'Secret Santas' hand out $100 bills to the needy in Phoenix

[Nagishkaw 510]

Just call them secretive Samaritans.

A group of people in metropolitan Phoenix identifying themselves only as "Secret Santas" has been running around for the past week, giving out $100 bills to people in need, the Arizona Republic reports.

Among the people surprised by the Santas are a soldier just back from Iraq, a blind man waiting for a bus and Tara Soto, a waitress with three children and a cancer-stricken husband, the paper said.

"This means Christmas," Soto told the Republic. She cried when she saw the bills. "I didn't want anything to be different for the kids because their dad is sick."

The tradition dates back to 1971, when the owner of a Mississippi diner gave Larry Stewart, who was homeless, a free breakfast. When Stewart later became a successful businessman in Kansas City, he handed out money to people at dollar stores, Laundromats and bus stations. Stewart died in 2007, but his tradition continues, the paper reported.

In the Phoenix area, the Secret Santas are organized by retired FBI agents Steve Chenoweth and Larry McCormick, the Republic said.

"They find us," Chenoweth told the paper of the volunteers who give out their own money. "Once they do it, they all want to come back."

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/on...dy-in-phoenix/1

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The true spirit of Christmas.

[zqt3344 21]

I am needy where is my $100!

Just call them secretive Samaritans.

A group of people in metropolitan Phoenix identifying themselves only as "Secret Santas" has been running around for the past week, giving out $100 bills to people in need, the Arizona Republic reports.

Among the people surprised by the Santas are a soldier just back from Iraq, a blind man waiting for a bus and Tara Soto, a waitress with three children and a cancer-stricken husband, the paper said.

"This means Christmas," Soto told the Republic. She cried when she saw the bills. "I didn't want anything to be different for the kids because their dad is sick."

The tradition dates back to 1971, when the owner of a Mississippi diner gave Larry Stewart, who was homeless, a free breakfast. When Stewart later became a successful businessman in Kansas City, he handed out money to people at dollar stores, Laundromats and bus stations. Stewart died in 2007, but his tradition continues, the paper reported.

In the Phoenix area, the Secret Santas are organized by retired FBI agents Steve Chenoweth and Larry McCormick, the Republic said.

"They find us," Chenoweth told the paper of the volunteers who give out their own money. "Once they do it, they all want to come back."

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/on...dy-in-phoenix/1