Secret Santa helped Akron family for years decades ago.

[hubman]

Decades ago, a mystery man spent thousands to give an Ohio family 'a nice visit from Santa Claus'

From 1953 to 1965, the mysterious benefactor gave the Arnolds a total of $3,040 over 12 Christmases, which amounts to nearly $25,000 today.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Zunardo]

A more cynical person might sneer at the white savior trope, but still a very heartwarming and noteworthy story.

Brings to mind the apocryphal tale of the little boy on the beach throwing the stranded starfish back in the water to save them. When told there were too many beached starfish in the world for him to make a difference, he picked up the next starfish he saw, threw it in the water, and said, “It made a difference to that one.”

 

[clarkgriswold]

I only knew Helen Arnold as a community leader, school board member and the head of the Akron NAACP until my now late mother told me of this story a while back. To her credit, she used some of the notoriety from this as a springboard to become a community leader who did a lot of good for the City of Akron.

 

[hubman]

Sort of reminds me of my favorite Jeffersons episode, 984 w 124th st apt 5c.

 

[SeeYaSometime]

Great story. I always enjoy Mark Price’s articles.