Avery County, North Carolina – Some people were initially skeptical about the stranger who rolled into flood-ravaged Avery County in western North Carolina This week he claims to be some kind of Santa Claus.
Still, he persisted, approaching people in parking lots, grocery stores and even motel rooms displaced by Hurricane Helene are still hiding three months after the devastating storm.
Every year this anonymous, wealthy businessman comes travels through the country give away during the holidays about $100,000 in $100 bills.
The money goes to random strangers and people he seeks out because he knows what they need. Why did this secret Santa do you want to come to North Carolina?
“I think when people experience a tragedy, they can lose their homes and all their belongings,” he told CBS News. ‘But what they cannot lose is hope. And maybe we can give a little hope.’
Among those he sought was Jamie Guinn. During Helene’s height, a mudslide tore through the garage of the Avery County home where Guinn lived with his wife, Melissa.
“I grabbed her and said, ‘At least we have each other,'” Jamie told CBS News. “‘We can fix the house.’ And it couldn’t have been 10 minutes later, and I remember being crushed.”
A second mudslide took over the entire house and claimed Melissa’s life.
“You haven’t really lost her because she’s with you and she’s smiling down on you now,” Secret Santa told Guinn.
It’s those comforting words – the hugs and hope from a complete stranger – that seem to really move people, much more than the money itself.
“That’s the gift, that you haven’t been forgotten, that we know you’re there,” Secret Santa said. “And we care.”
Secret Santa always says that kindness is the bridge between all people – a bridge that cannot be burned, bombed or washed away by a flood. It’s always there, waiting for us to cross.
New details about Luigi Mangione’s time in prison, evidence examined
Woman whose sentence was commuted by Biden tells her story
The mysterious Secret Santa donates thousands of dollars to Helene’s victims in North Carolina
