{"id":51064,"date":"2011-12-23T14:13:41","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T19:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=51064"},"modified":"2011-12-23T16:35:54","modified_gmt":"2011-12-23T21:35:54","slug":"secret-santa-dont-keep-love-and-generosity-a-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/daily-astrology\/secret-santa-dont-keep-love-and-generosity-a-secret\/","title":{"rendered":"Secret Santa: Don’t keep love and generosity a secret"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Portland Press Herald<\/strong><\/em><\/a> reports that for the third year in a row, a businessman from the Portland area of Maine has made it a mission to hand out $100 bills at area food pantries, shelters and places like Goodwill and Salvation Army. For those who are truly struggling, it’s a blessing most do not dare imagine — and one often met with tears from the overwhelming gratitude and surprise. It is too easy to feel forgotten, disposable and lost in this world.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Amanda Painter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dubbed the “Secret Santa,” the anonymous man protects his identity with a Groucho Marx-type nose-and-eyeglasses set and hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head, waiting in a car. Meanwhile, an assistant in a Santa suit hands out the bills in envelopes, which also contain a note suggesting the recipient pay the gesture forward in some way or use it to make the holiday a little happier for themselves and their families.<\/p>\n

The first year, Secret Santa handed out $10,000 in $100 bills; this year, his goal is $20,000. He does not announce the dates, times or exact locations he is planning, so as to avoid creating a frenzy. But he does announce that he plans to visit several towns in the week before Christmas.<\/p>\n

Southern Maine’s Secret Santa says he was inspired by Kansas City’s secret Santa, Larry Stewart, who spent years anonymously handing out $100 bills. He reportedly gave out more than $1.3 million over two decades before his death in 2007.<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Portland Press Herald<\/em> (you can read the full story here<\/a>), the Secret Santa said, “The whole idea is to convince other people to do something similar. We’d love to see it happen more often. I want to do this every year in increasing amounts if it’s possible. But you never know because the economy is in such a dicey situation now.” He plans to give money away next year as well.<\/p>\n

We may not all be able to give away 200 $100 bills — or even just one. But we can all afford to give a smile, a hug, an extra five minutes of our time. How will you play Secret Santa this year?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Portland Press Herald reports that for the third year in a row, a businessman from the Portland area of Maine has made it a mission to hand out $100 bills at area food pantries, shelters and places like Goodwill and Salvation Army. For those who are truly struggling, it’s a blessing most do not … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}