A "Secret Santa" left a $2,000 tip on a $17 breakfast tab at an Arizona restaurant, giving the staff an extra $200-plus each for the holiday season.
Server Delia Meeks waited on the "Secret Santa" as he ordered breakfast and stayed at the Scottsdale 5 & Diner in a Scottsdale for about an hour last Saturday before leaving the generous tip, KPNX-TV reported.
The note under the $2,000 tip read, "Please split with the whole staff. Merry Christmas!"
"We immediately brought it up to the manager that was on duty and she couldn't believe it," Meeks told KPNX-TV. "We were all excited. It made the day of everyone who was working."
Meeks, who said there were nine people working at the time of the gift, said the extra money will allow her to purchase more Christmas presents.
"If he hears this, come back so we can thank (you) in person," Meeks told KPNX-TV. "We are all very happy and excited about what he did."
Other "Secret Santas" struck on the East Coast over the weekend, paying of layaways at Walmart shopping centers in Millville, New Jersey and Everett, Pennsylvania.
In New Jersey, an unidentified person put down $49,000 to pay off the layaways for 223 people, the Vineland Daily Journal reported.
"It's the nicest thing that's ever happened to me," Kimberly Green told the Daily Journal. "You see all these stories like this, and you don't expect it to happen in Vineland or Millville. It's just really uplifting."
Someone doled out $40,000 to pay the layaway for another 200 people at the Pennsylvania location, WBRE/WYOU-TV reported.
"I think it means more to me, but I think they'll be happy," Kristen Martin told the television station. "I think kids for Christmas – I remember when I was growing up for Christmas. I was just telling my mom the other day that I want my kids to have Christmas like that."
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