Secret Santa is back and this Christmas is bigger than ever!
The EastIdahoNews.com team is busy helping a local man gift more than $500,000 this holiday season. A lot more. Secret Santa is a real person who wants to remain anonymous and hopes to help as many people as he can.
We will be surprising deserving people and families every day from now until Christmas with gifts unique to their circumstances.
Carissa and Randy Heaps are the parents of eight children. Carissa's family has deep roots in Jefferson County. She and her husband have moved around a bit but they returned back home three years ago to help her aging parents.
Carissa's mother has suffered from multiple sclerosis for many years and her dad has dementia. The Heaps recently found out that Randy has a severe case of early-onset dementia and brain tumors. He is no longer able to work and they frequently take trips to Salt Lake City so he can receive medical care. Their vehicles all have over 150,000 miles on them and constantly break down.
The Heaps have always been self-sufficient, hard-working and generous to others. They have always planned for a “rainy day,” which they have relied on, but now the rainy day has become a hurricane.
Secret Santa wanted to surprise the Heaps with an early Christmas gift so he asked the East Idaho News elves to pay them a visit. Watch the video above to see the surprise - and the touching message Carissa sent after receiving her present.
If Secret Santa has inspired you to do something anonymous for someone else this holiday season, we want to hear about it! Email [email protected] and tell us about your Secret Santa project.
