"Secret Santas" pass out $11,000
Posted: 12.23.2008 at 11:11 AM
Photo

DETROIT, MI. (AP) -- Two "Secret Santas" have given away $11,000 to unsuspecting people to help make their holidays happier.

The Detroit Free Press says the married Detroit area couple anonymously gave away $100 bills Monday at bus stops, thrift stores and coin-operated laundries in the working-class Downriver community of Lincoln Park.

The couple says they wanted to give money to people impacted by Detroit's struggling auto industry, poor economy, high unemployment and numerous home foreclosures.

Local police were told about the money giveaway, and an officer accompanied the couple who asked that their identities not be revealed.

A Missouri man became known as "Secret Santa" after giving away money for more than two decades.

(Copyright ©2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)