Kansas City’s Secret Santa is at it again, this time focusing his annual good cheer on Kansas’ capital city.
A reporter for the Kansas City Star tagged along recently as Secret Santa followed his long tradition of handing out $100 bills to strangers in Topeka – places where the hurting and downtrodden gather, including a shelter and thrift store.
At each stop, the arrival of Santa and his ‘elves’ was met with quizzical stares. By the time they left, there were tears of joy and shouts of ‘praise Jesus.’
Local police and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt accompanied the Secret Santa.
‘This is such a heart-warming experience,’ Schmidt said. ‘Such raw generosity.’
The Secret Santa tradition began years ago with a man named Larry Stewart.
In this December 21, 2017 photo, Sharon Bosse of Mayetta, Kansas, embraces one of Santa’s ‘elves’ after being handed a $100 bill in Topeka, Kansas
Stewart was touched by a stranger’s kindness at his lowest point. He later became wealthy and decided to share his good fortune with strangers.
When Stewart was dying of cancer, he asked the current Santa to carry on the mission. He has done so for 11 years.
The donor follows in the footsteps of his late friend, who over a quarter-century disbursed an estimated $1.3 million to the needy in Kansas City and other communities.
Stewart publicly identified himself shortly before his 2007 death from esophageal cancer at age 58.
Today’s Santa has always remembered what Stewart said on his death bed: ‘I wish I could have helped more people.’
The current Santa insists on anonymity.
‘It’s not about the person,’ he said. ‘It’s about the deed.’
But occasionally, reporters are invited along in hopes of inspiring kindness in others. And sometimes, Santa has kindness shown to him.
More than a dozen homeless people at Topeka Rescue Mission Ministries gave Secret Santa a hug in Topeka after they each received a $100 bill
Debi Widman of Topeka was shopping at a thrift store when a man she didn’t know walked up and told her he liked her coat.
The stranger offered her $50. Then $75. Then $100.
‘I don’t want any money,’ she told him. ‘I’ll give it to you.’
That’s when Santa revealed himself. He gave Widman $100 and she kept her coat.
‘God bless you,’ she told him.
Widman’s gesture helped make Santa’s day.
‘Those with the least,’ he said, ‘are always willing to give the most.’
In late December 2015, Secret Santa gave out money to local residents in Ferguson, Missouri.
The donor follows in the footsteps of his late friend, billionaire philanthropist Larry Stewart (above), who over a quarter-century disbursed an estimated $1.3 million to the needy in Kansas City and other communities. Stewart died in 2007 after he was diagnosed with cancer
His aim was to help a city still reeling from the violent clashes in August 2014 that broke out after the death of black teenager Michael Brown, shot dead by former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
His mass giveaway included a trip to the former fourth-grade classroom of nine-year-old Jamyla Bolden, who was killed in August when shots were fired into her home as she did homework on her mother’s bed.
The students received $20 bills along with a secret Santa coloring book that tells the story of Stewart, who before earning millions in the cable television and long-distance telephone service industries received his own unexpected donation at a Mississippi diner where he couldn’t afford to buy his meal.
‘Our mission is to do random acts of kindness,’ he said. ‘Kindness is the bridge between all people. And right now, Ferguson needs that kindness.’
The secret Santa said he typically hands out between $100,000 and $120,000 annually with the help of other anonymous counterparts in cities such as Charlotte, North Carolina, and Detroit.