Each Christmas season, the American people showcase their generosity with incredible stories of charity and giving that would warm the hearts of even the grinchiest Grinch and the scroogiest Scrooge.
One such story comes out of Cumming, Georgia, where a waitress at Red Robin named Meredith Gross received an extremely generous tip so that she could give her daughter a special Christmas.
Gross is a single mother who has worked at Red Robin for years, according to Yahoo News, and often chats with her customers. During one conversation with a couple of customers, Gross revealed that she has a four-year-old daughter.
According to Gross, the couple stated that they wished to leave her a nice tip “in the spirit of giving,” since it was Christmas.
But Gross did not expect that the couple’s tip would be quite so generous. On a $4.27 check, they gave her a $200 gratuity. “I was kind of in shock, almost like, ‘You don’t have to do that, that’s way too much, you know.’ And they were politely insistent that I take it,” Gross recalled.
USA Today reports that the generosity has “completely transformed” Gross’ Christmas, allowing her to purchase for her daughter the gift that has been at the top of her list, an Elsa doll, based on a character from the movie Frozen.
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The kindly tippers said there was just one caveat. “He told me to get her a big toy and to, instead of telling her it was from Santa Claus, tell her it was from Jesus,” Gross said. “The spirit of giving comes from being like Jesus, and that’s what he enjoyed doing.”
The doll costs anywhere from $25 to $35, leaving Gross enough money to help cover other holiday expenses.
“They were able to make our Christmas better than we expected,” Goss said, “and one day, I really hope that I can be like that and do the same thing in the same spirit.”
Another inspiring story comes out of Grand Junction, Colorado, where pop music icon Taylor Swift surprised a young cancer patient with an early Christmas present by carving out some time in her schedule for a December 19 visit.
Delaney Clements, 13, moved into hospice care days earlier after a five-year-long battle with cancer. Bilboard.com reports that Clements had developed a following on Instagram after she was diagnosed in 2010. Delaney caught Swift’s attention after #DelaneyMeetTaylor began to trend on Twitter.
On the 19th, Clements recalls that she was preparing to take a nap when her mother said she had a visitor. Expecting the visitor to be a friend or family member, Delaney was stunned to discover the visitor was Taylor Swift.
According to People magazine, Swift spent the afternoon with Clements and her family just talking and taking selfies for Clements to post on her Instagram. Swift also posted photos of the event on her own Instagram with the caption, “Merry Christmas Baby.”
Clements told her Instagram followers that she was “literally speechless.” “Literally speechless right now!!!!!” she posted, alongside photos of her and Swift. “My new best friend (as I call her now) made a special stop from going home to Tennessee and surprised me and gave me the best present/ hugg ever!! Thank you !! I love you!! Happy holidays!!”
The Clements family was touched by Swift’s kindness. Delaney’s mother, Wendy, wrote on her Facebook, “So happy for my baby girl. Thank you Taylor Swift for the best Christmas present ever.”
Back in the Northeast, strangers in Camden, Delaware, scraped together enough money to give a veteran a special Christmas surprise.
James Pack suffered a heart attack in September that forced him to be hospitalized for several months, Delaware State News reports. With no one to care for his two dogs, they ended up at the SPCA. After the heart attack, Pack suffered an infection that rendered his throat and left side paralyzed, but though he could barely speak, he regularly called the shelter to check on his dogs. He struggled with the fact that he might have lost them forever.
Pack was released from the hospital in early December, but was told that he needed to pay an adoption fee to get his two dogs back. The cost was $210, money he simply did not have.
After a very brief reunion with his dogs, Pack left vowing to return with the $210, even if it meant he’d have to sell his car.
Fortunately, he did not have to do that. Delaware State News writes that volunteers and workers at the shelter decided to chip in and pay for the dogs on Pack’s behalf. They also purchased gift cards, dog food, toys, and personalized treats for the dogs.
When Pack returned with the adoption money for his dogs on December 17, he was shocked when his payment was rejected.
Video captured footage of the entire surprise. Initially, Pack thought he was being told he could not have his dogs back. When the worker explained about the donations, Pack began to cry. He then kissed his hand and raised it heavenward.
Click here to watch the video, which features footage of Pack and his dogs uniting. (Warning: You may need a tissue.)
Pack later told the Delaware State News, “This is the best Christmas ever.”
More inspiration comes out of central Pennsylvania, where an anonymous donor made Christmas a little brighter for struggling families.
On December 14, a Secret Santa paid off $180,000 worth of layaway items at two different Pennsylvania Wal-Marts, one in Silver Springs township and the other in Swatara, Penn Live reports.
The anonymous donor, known only as “Santa B,” has started to make a habit of this, having paid off $50,000 worth of layaways last year.
According to Steven Myers, store manager at the Silver Spring location, Santa B stated that his business was successful and that “he wanted to give back to the community.”
Myers says he is not sure why Santa B chose his store, but that he’s very glad he did. As a result of Santa B’s generosity, 300 to 400 layaways were completely paid.
When the customers learned what Santa B had done, they were in tears, Myers said.
One shopper, Tracy Folks, told ABC27 News, “It’s been a rough year this year.” When Folks heard that her layaway items were paid for, she said she immediately started to cry “because I was actually going to have to cancel my layaway.” Thanks to Santa B, Folks says it will be “a great Christmas.”
Another customer, Alan Sawyer, was in a state of disbelief when he saw his receipt had no remaining balance. He remarked, “I want to say ‘thank you’ for whoever you are.”
Christmas is the season for giving, and these stories serve as moving examples of that. Thankfully, the goodness of the American people continues far beyond the Christmas season, filling the entire year. Just another reason to be proud to be an American and thankful for God’s grace.
