When I sorted through the mail this afternoon, I was struck by a small card addressed to me. Ah, the first Christmas card of the season! I thought. I looked it over, not finding a return address. Strange.

The real surprise came when I opened the envelope. (Actually, it had been opened already on the side – not sure if some postal worker carefully ripped it open or our moist weather split the seam. I’m guessing the latter.) Inside was a simple holiday wishes card, and 5 $20 bills. Wait, what? $100! I quickly scanned the inside of the card to see who sent this, but there was no name.

I was completely confused for a moment. Who sent us a card and forgot to sign it? It was then that Aaron pointed out that it was only addressed to me and it was from Chattanooga, TN. It was most likely not from any family.

An anonymous gift of $100. Wow.

So, in the very likely case that my secret Santa reads this blog, I’d like to say thank you. Your gift was amazing and generous and worthy of the tears that came to my eyes.

And with practically no hesitation, I decided I’m planning to use part of the money to pass on your random act of kindness to others. 2008 has quite possibly been the suckiest year I’ve ever had, but I think we can agree this has been a disastrous year for many. Yet we’ve kept our house thus far, and while we still have no long-term employment or health insurance (except for the kids, thanks to SCHIP), Aaron has a contract job that is providing a decent income for last month and this month, and we have great family and friends who are incredibly supportive. Looking at all of that, we’re wealthy compared to many.

I’m planning to invest at least half of this gift into formula and diapers for my local YWCA. They are one of the few family shelters in Columbus, where entire families can remain together while they try to get back on their feet. I first learned about their services last month while in my nursing school clinical. At the hospital I cared for a woman who told me she was living at the YWCA shelter with her husband and kids. I asked a few questions and found out they both had good full time jobs, but then both were laid off, and soon after their house was foreclosed on when they couldn’t find new jobs. It spiraled down until they found themselves at a shelter so they weren’t sleeping in their car.

In different circumstances, my family could be that family. The YWCA provides so many services for these families with nowhere else to go, including childcare, in-house tutors and after-school programs for older kids, meals, and employment assistance. Right now on their website, they are asking for diapers and other baby supplies, as their current demand is outpacing their supply. They received 2000 diapers last month, but needed over 2500.

I also want to help them because of an article I read recently about mothers watering down formula to make it last longer, often leading to infant malnutrition and life-threatening conditions as a result. Many moms don’t realize that cutting formula with more water is dangerous. But due to the economic conditions, formula is hard to buy, hard to keep in stock at food banks, and is now such a prized possession that it’s being stolen in record numbers. I can’t imagine stealing anything, but were I desperate and had an infant who needed food, I would probably steal formula to make sure she could eat.

While my girls have lots of “wants” (Cordy’s change daily, it seems), I know their needs are met. Using a large portion of this gifted money to help other children’s needs seems like the right thing to do. I hope you’re OK with that, anonymous gifter. I promise I’ll use a little bit of it for something for myself, and the girls will each get a small gift, too. But I’d like to use most of it to continue the spirit of giving. I’ve been wishing I could do more to help those who are so desperate for the basic necessities, and your gift is helping make that possible for me.

Thanks again. I’m genuinely touched by this random act of kindness and humbled that someone thought I deserved this. Whoever you are, you rock.

(And yes, I’ll admit I’m really curious who this is from, mostly because I’m wondering who has my address?)

(And to everyone else – have you practiced a random act of kindness lately?)

(One more parentheses and I’m done, I swear: visit Her Bad Mother to see how she’s giving back to those more needy, including offering up an iPod to her readers. Plus there’s a great Charlie Brown clip.)