The notoriously generous “Secret Santa” of eastern Idaho is keeping the gift-giving going with yet another heroic donation made to a struggling single mom.
The anonymous donor teamed up with the East Idaho News team to give out $1 million this Christmas season and chose Mary as the next deserving person to help.
Mary is “essentially caught in a rock and a hard place,” East Idaho News’s Nate Eaton reported.
She was a computer teacher at a public charter school for many years, putting in many extra unpaid hours after school, on weekends, and over summers to help students learn. In addition to teaching the local youth, Mary is a caretaker for her legally blind 22-year-old daughter as well as her elderly parents. She also supports her teenage son.
Mary’s mother recently had two knee replacements, which require physical therapy aftercare, and her dad also has an injured knee. The former teacher transports everyone to their medical appointments and gets them everything they need, but medical bills are stacking up.
On top of all of that, both of her vehicles are “dying” and “require thousands of dollars to be usable.” The van she uses to drive her family is 25 years old with 372,00 miles, the outlet reported.
When Eaton knocked on Mary’s front door with a camera crew and gifts in tow, she was shocked.
“Oh my gosh…what is this; oh my gosh,” Mary said after being handed a generous check.
Eaton got her attention again when he offered another present.
“This is plenty; I don’t need anything else,” the emotional mom said.
Her jaw dropped when she was handed the keys to a new Toyota RAV4.
“I’m shaking,” Mary said.
Her daughter then came outside, sharing her gratitude.
“You have no idea how much we need that right now,” Mary’s daughter told Eaton.
“She’s done so much for this town,” she added, recounting how the family had been “panicking” over how to deal with mounting expenses and vehicular issues.
Mary cried in disbelief as Eaton gestured to her new car parked down the street, then went inside to get her parents to show them the surprise.
“Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?” her mother exclaimed when she saw the car keys.
“How nice is that!” her father said with a big smile.
Mary was finally able to sit in her new, working vehicle and have a good cry.
“Thank you so much, thank you. It means so much…It’s just amazing. Thank you,” she said to the anonymous Good Samaritan who funded the station’s Secret Santa project.
Mary tearfully hugged the entire news crew, including the cameramen.
East Idaho’s Secret Santa has touched the lives of several locals who were struggling this holiday season, including a mother of a special needs child, a student from West Africa who could not afford his medical bills after being injured, and a widow who had lost all five of her children.
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