Last Updated on December 18, 2020
Secret Santas abound everywhere this holiday season. But there is a special one in Idaho. His Secret Santa wish list started with a sweet 65-year-old woman named Diana Boldman.
She and her husband Cameron have had their struggles. They wake up early each morning to deliver 150 newspapers in their hometown of Idaho Falls. But Diana doesn’t stop there. After the paper route, she goes to a local McDonald’s to work a full-time shift. The extra workload is necessary because Cameron, also 65, is on disability and she needs to provide for both.
Enter Idaho’s Secret Santa. He works hard at it. He’s been gifting more than $500,000 to local folks in need.
First up in 2020: Diana Boldman.
Although the Secret Santa remained anonymous, he teamed up with a local television station, East Idaho News, to deliver his Christmas season surprise. Anchorman Nate Eaton arrived at the McDonald’s and reached out to Boldman.
He first gave her $5,000 in gas cards. Then a $1,000 check. And then the piece de résistance: a little box that contained keys to a red SUV.
Boldman had been driving across the city in a van that had nearly 240,000 miles on it. It kept breaking down, adding to their expenses on a limited budget.
“Oh my goodness,” she kept repeating holding back tears. “Tell the Secret Santa I said, ‘Thank you ever so much.’”
‘Tis the season for making magic happen.
