|
|
11-16-2006, 03:02 PM | Topic Starter |
Wheeeeee!!!
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: In a house
Casino cash: $9074925
|
KC's Secret Santa Reveals Identity
This man has touched a lot a lives and I wish him well.
KC's Secret Santa Reveals Identity Stewart Diagnosed With Cancer POSTED: 12:56 pm CST November 16, 2006 UPDATED: 1:12 pm CST November 16, 2006 KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The answer to one of the happiest mysteries in the Kansas City area is being revealed this year. A man who has given away millions of dollars and become known as Secret Santa for handing out Christmas cash to the needy is allowing his name to be publicized after 26 years. But the reason for the revelation is an unhappy one. Secret Santa has cancer. He wants to start speaking to community groups about his belief in random acts of kindness, but he can't do that without telling people who he is. The man who has spread cheer for 26 years is Larry Stewart, 58, of Lee's Summit, who made his millions in cable television and long-distance telephone service. Stewart told The Kansas City Star that he was the man who would walk up to complete strangers, hand them $100 bills, wish them "Merry Christmas" and walk away, leaving astonished and grateful people in his wake. He handed out money throughout the year, but he said it was the Christmas giving that gave him the most joy. Now, he wants to inspire others to do the same. He said he thinks that people should know that he was born poor, was briefly homeless, dropped out of college, has been fired from jobs, and once even considered robbery. But he said every time he hit a low point in his life, someone gave him money, food and hope, and that's why he has devoted his life to returning the favors. Stewart grew up in Bruce, Miss., reared by his elderly grandparents, who survived on $33 a month and welfare staples. They heated water on the stove for baths and used an outhouse. After he left home and college, he found himself out of work in 1971. After sleeping in his car for eight nights and not eating for two days, Stewart went to the Dixie Diner in Houston, Miss., and ordered breakfast. When the bill came, he acted as if he'd lost his wallet. The diner owner came to him. "You must have dropped this," the owner said, slipping a $20 bill into the young man's hand. He paid, pushed his car to the gas station, and left town. But he vowed to remember the stranger's kindness, and to help others, when he could. He arrived in Kansas City because he had a cousin here. He got married and started his own company, with money from his father-in-law. But the company failed in 1977 and he couldn't pay the bills. It was the lowest point in his life. "I was a failure in business. I was a failure as a husband. I was a failure as a father," he remembers thinking. He got into his car with a handgun and thought about robbing a store. But he stopped and went home -- and got a call from his brother-in-law, offering him money to tide him over. After being fired from two jobs on two successive Christmases, Stewart stopped at a drive-in. Although he had little money himself, Stewart gave a cold and miserable carhop the change from a $20, much to her delight. That's when Stewart's mission to secretly give away money at the holidays began. Eventually, Stewart became a success and started Network Communications in 2002. The firm used independent sales agents to enroll customers for Sprint long-distance service. In 1996, an arbitration panel ordered Sprint to pay Network and its sales agents $60.9 million in commissions it owed. Stewart got $5.2 million. The poor boy from Mississippi now had a family, lived in a nice house and drove nice cars. So, he started giving away more money, to dozens of causes. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The Salvation Army. The National Paralysis Foundation. The ALS Foundation. He supports the Metropolitan Crime Commission's Surviving Spouse and Family Endowment program. And, all along, he gave away money to needy strangers. But Christmas was special. He'd distribute thousands of dollars during visits to coin laundries, thrift stores, barbershops and diners. People shouted with joy, cried, praised the Lord, and thanked Stewart repeatedly. But Secret Santa moved on quickly to avoid attention. He did sometimes invite newspaper and TV reporters along, if they promised not to reveal his identity. It was reporters who dubbed him "Secret Santa." In 1989, after some people chased his car when they saw the cash he carried, he decided he needed protection. He called Jackson County Sheriff's Capt. Tom Phillips. "I thought, 'OK, this guy's nuts,"' recalls Phillips, now the Jackson County sheriff. "But at the end of the day, I was in tears -- literally -- just seeing what he did to people." Eventually, Secret Santa took his sleigh ride to other places. In 2001, after the terrorist attacks, he went to New York. The New York cop who accompanied him said he'd never forget the experience. In 2002, Secret Santa was in Washington, D.C., victimized by the serial snipers. In 2003, it was San Diego neighborhoods devastated by wildfires. And in 2004, he was in Florida, helping thousands left homeless by three hurricanes. Last Christmas, Secret Santa went back to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast. He stopped in Houston, Miss., where the diner owner had helped him so many years ago. On a previous visit he had surprised the owner, Ted Horn, with $10,000. This time, they stamped $100 bills with the name "Ted Horn," and gave Horn money to distribute. And Horn took money from his own bank account to give away, too. Stewart has enlisted "elves" for years -- George Brett, the late Buck O'Neil, Dick Butkus. He's already inspired copycats. Four other Secret Santas plan to distribute a total of $70,000 of their own cash this year. And Secret Santa plans to give away $100,000 this year. Since he started, he estimates he's given out more than $1.3 million in Christmas cash. But this will likely be the last Christmas for Stewart's tradition. In April, doctors told Stewart that he had cancer of the esophagus. It had spread to his liver. He needed treatment, fast. With help from Brett, he got into a clinical trial at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. Doctors tell him the tumors have shrunk, but they can't say whether the cancer is in remission. "I pray for that man every single day," former Kansas City Chiefs star Deron Cherry -- one of Stewart's elves -- says. "There's a lot of people praying for him." |
Posts: 19,809
|
11-16-2006, 03:05 PM | #2 | |
I'll be back.
Join Date: Nov 2002
Casino cash: $4200478
|
Quote:
__________________
Chiefs game films |
|
Posts: 279,569
|
11-16-2006, 03:06 PM | #3 | |
Wheeeeee!!!
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: In a house
Casino cash: $9074925
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
Posts: 19,809
|
11-16-2006, 03:23 PM | #4 | |
BTW... which one's Pink?
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Just this side of Hell
Casino cash: $10004900
|
Great Story! Thank you for posting something uplifting in the Boards today. It helps break the negativism that's usually seen in here.
Uh hmmmm..... Quote:
__________________
"I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image." Stephen Hawking |
|
Posts: 179
|
11-16-2006, 03:08 PM | #5 |
Sandbox: Leander Lasercats
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Austin, Tx
Casino cash: $1867000
|
Totally cool. More people need to treat those around them in such a respectful, uplifting manner. (yes, myself included)
|
Posts: 14,706
|
11-16-2006, 03:13 PM | #6 |
A certain set of skills
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: texas
Casino cash: $10026683
VARSITY
|
That is a cool story. Always heard about that guy through the years around Christmas time. Hope he wins the fight with cancer.
Now.....Gochiefs go to timeout for that comment. |
Posts: 25,265
|
11-16-2006, 03:18 PM | #7 |
Learn it. Know it. Live it.
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Casino cash: $10004900
|
That was a sweet story....He's certainly in my prayers.
I too remember hearing about him over the holidays when I was still living in the KC area.
__________________
- * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - Four blessings upon my fellow planeteers: Older whiskey, younger women, faster horses, and more money. |
Posts: 10,840
|
11-16-2006, 03:22 PM | #8 |
Banned
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Pond> Me <Barn
Casino cash: $11298284
|
A role-model if ever there was one.
__________________
BrainCase |
Posts: 15,429
|
11-16-2006, 03:11 PM | #9 |
Giggitty!
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Missoula, Mt
Casino cash: $9894905
|
Kick ass story dude, thanks for posting it!
__________________
Times have changed, so have I, things are better now. |
Posts: 13,395
|
11-16-2006, 03:24 PM | #10 |
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Home in KC
Casino cash: $10074930
|
F**kin liberal! Can't we stop these handouts! If those people just worked a little harder they wouldn't need his help.
__________________
There’s a gleam! |
Posts: 4,217
|
11-16-2006, 03:29 PM | #11 | |
Say hello to my little friend
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Larryville
Casino cash: $9598422
|
Quote:
|
|
Posts: 47,314
|
11-16-2006, 05:46 PM | #12 | |
King Shit of **** Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Texarkana, Texas
Casino cash: $2074497
|
Quote:
Exactly. How dare he be allowed to help the people he chooses. The government should decide who benefits from his millions. That said, Bob Dole hopes he can whip the beast. There aren't nearly enough people like him. |
|
Posts: 48,779
|
11-16-2006, 03:31 PM | #13 |
Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Kansas City MO
Casino cash: $10004900
|
Sad news about an overly generous guy.
I wonder, though, how much of the cash he dished out got spent on drugs and booze. His money would have went alot further and, most importantly, been spent wisely if he'd have given it directly to social/civic organizations like the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, etc. |
Posts: 3,072
|
11-16-2006, 04:06 PM | #14 | |
Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Casino cash: $6793141
|
Quote:
|
|
Posts: 1,231
|
11-16-2006, 03:32 PM | #15 |
MVP
Join Date: Oct 2005
Casino cash: $10004952
|
Cool. I mean the guy is cool, not that he got the cancer.
|
Posts: 12,016
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|