Seven years ago, East Idaho News launched a program called Secret Santa.
You may have heard of this because this year marks the seventh year of Secret Santa’s yearly pledge of choosing deserving recipients of his gifts.
There have been many questions about Secret Santa, but we all know that his identity is top secret. Only Nate Eaton knows who he is.
Then, there’s a question about what made Secret Santa do what he does.
According to the East Idaho News page, when Secret Santa was just a young man, he had to live temporarily in a foreign country.
Since he was so far away from home, he didn’t expect to receive any gifts that Christmas day.
However, he was surprised when he woke up that Christmas morning.
When he sat down to have breakfast, there was one present for him on the table. It wasn’t expensive, but it made a tremendous impact on him.
He didn’t have a clue where it came from, but he sure didn’t forget that experience even though it has been 50 years since.
One of the latest recipients of Secret Santa is Annalei.
Annalei has been commended for having a huge heart.
Despite school and her other tasks, she found time to save money for one entire year so she could buy a big mailbox.
She placed the mailbox outside of a store where children could write to Santa Claus.
For the past 3 years, she tried writing to Santa to see if her mailbox would be a certified drop box for Santa’s letters.
What happens once her mailbox has been certified?
Well, it means Santa’s elves would go to this mailbox and pick up the letters each night.
If a letter has a return address, then Santa himself will write and send a letter back.
Annalei loved the fact that she could do this for children and it made her heart full.
Unfortunately, last year, Annalei’s mailbox was blown over by strong winds. It broke into several pieces, and the lights were no longer working.
With her father’s help, they pieced it back together, but it wasn’t as sturdy.
Annalei was heartbroken.
In order to buy a new mailbox, she tried approaching different local businesses to ask for help, but it wasn’t enough.
She needed a bigger amount if she wanted to buy a new mailbox.
Little did she know, she was recommended to Secret Santa, and the kind Samaritan asked his friend, East Idaho News’ Nate, along with Robert and Jordan, to give Annalei some presents this Christmas.
Nate and his elves knocked on Annalei’s door. She opened it and was confused by the cameras. Just then, her mother, Gerta, asked them to come inside.
While inside, Nate asked her some questions about her mailbox and the young lady explained how dedicated she was to write letters for children.
That’s when Nate handed her one box.
Inside was a $500 office supply store gift certificate so she could buy pens, papers, envelopes, and everything she could need to respond to letters.
Next, there was a $500 crafts store voucher she could use to decorate her new mailbox.
Then came the box with a $1000 gift card. There, she could go online and pick whatever mailbox she wanted.
Annalei couldn’t believe it!
She was so happy about her gifts and soon, her mailbox will be up and running again. Watch her full story below.
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