Elf 32A and Mrs. Claus did it again for the 18th straight year, handing out thousands of dollars in cash to strangers in and around Lincoln Park to celebrate Christmas and the spirit of giving.
They handed out good cheer $100 at a time on Monday, Dec. 8, stopping at some familiar types of places, a restaurant, two schools, random bus stops and even pulling over a bus with the help of Lincoln Park police officers. Everyone on board got a crisp Benjamin.
The money all comes out of their own pockets. The married couple, who haven’t been identified in all those years of newspaper coverage, describes themselves as comfortable but not filthy rich. They say they’ll keep doing this until they can’t do it any longer.
On Monday, they gave out $12,000, bringing their total since they started in 2008 to about $245,000.
At a bus stop, the Secret Santas found one man who told them he’d just missed them last year.
” ‘I got on a bus one stop after you had helped everybody on the bus,’ ” the man told Mrs. Claus. He said he thought, “’ that’ll never happen to me.’ “
But on Monday, he said, ” ‘Wow, you’re back. Every year we wonder if you’ll be back.’ ”
That sat well with Mrs. Claus.
“It was heartwarming to hear him say, ‘This year it was my turn.’ “
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Secret Santas are back, handing out cash to strangers in metro Detroit
Reporting by Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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