When the tradition started in 2013, the Secret Santa asked East Idaho News to pass out $100,000.
The surprises get better every single year.
And this year, especially, they seem more emotional.
“Are you joking?” a man named Evan, a father of four who works at Walmart, asked when he was gifted a new van to drive his family around. “Where’s Ashton Kutcher at?”
He continued to sob with gratitude at the generous gesture of a mysterious man.
Evan is one of what will be about 100 surprised people in the coming weeks. Many are gifted cashier’s checks and some others like Evan, cars.
Nate Eaton, news director of East Idaho News, has been facilitating the surprises for the last nine years. Since the Secret Santa is anonymous, Eaton has become the face of the entire operation. He’s the one showing up on doorsteps handing out the presents to people in the East Idaho region. That’s roughly about 350,000 homes, he said.
When the tradition started in 2013, the Secret Santa asked Eaton to pass out $100,000.
Now, it’s grown to $1 million.
“I was shocked. I'll be honest with you,” Eaton told Inside Edition Digital over Zoom in 2021. He is the only one on his team who knows Santa's true identity.
Eaton wants to be clear about who he is: “It’s one person. It's not a program. It's not a corporation. It's not like it's trust fund or anything. It's actually a living person who just enjoys giving his money away.”
The Secret Santa told Eaton that he felt “there’s a lot of need” in their community. So, his team of elves has started earlier. They’re doing bigger surprises and handing out bigger gifts.
To be eligible for the Secret Santa surprise, you must live in the East Idaho region and be nominated to be a recipient. Eaton said they will continue reviewing nominations for weeks to come and always consults with Secret Santa himself, who watches many of the surprises from his home.
Each check is carefully folded into a homemade, decorated box with wrapping paper and fancy bows. Another woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, makes them each year for the surprises.
After nine years of being the face of this mysterious Secret Santa, one might think once the doorbell rings with Eaton and his camera crew, the family inside would realize what’s about to happen. But there are still many people who don’t.
And those that do.
“I know who you are,” Connie said from her doorway. “I've been following you ever since you started.”
She was shaking as she opened the box to reveal that she was getting a car. Connie totaled hers in an accident.
“I always was so thankful for the people that were able to be gifted. And I thought I'm not, I'm not that type because I'm not that needy.
"But boy, this past six months has been different,” she said to Eaton.
