‘Secret Santa’ visits Southwest Florida Goodwill Store
Generous “Secret Santas” have been appearing in retail stores across the country, anonymously paying off layaways and customers’ purchases. Southwest Florida is no exception. On Sunday, Dec. 18, a secret Santa paid a visit to Goodwill’s Island Park Retail & Donation Center, 16523 Island Park Road, in south Fort Myers.
Around 11:30 a.m., an anonymous man approached cashier Bonnie Parchini and handed her a credit card, indicating that he wanted to pay for the purchases of a mother in line with her child.
“When I told her that her items were already paid for, she was stunned,” recalls Parchini. “She asked the man, ‘why would you do this for me,” All he said was ‘Merry Christmas.”
A few minutes later, the man approached Parchini again, this time not only giving her his credit card, but $40 in cash.
“There was a woman in line with her three little girls,” she says. “He wanted me to give her the cash to take her daughters out to lunch.”
Once again, “Merry Christmas” was all the anonymous man said to the shopper, who responded by giving him a teary-eyed hug.
Parchini, a three-year employee, says that she’d never seen the man in the store before, and neither of the customers were regulars, either.
“It was amazing to be a part of a random act of kindness like that,” she adds. “It really restores your faith in humanity.”
Kirsten O’Donnell, director of public relations and marketing for Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, adds, “Goodwill is known nationwide as a place where good things happen. To see someone pay it forward like this is just remarkable.”
Goodwill operates 25 Retail & Donation Centers in Southwest Florida to support the agency’s mission of helping people with disabilities and other disadvantages become more independent. Supported programs and services in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties include Job-Link resource centers, the L.I.F.E. Academy Charter School, and accessible income-sensitive housing for people with disabilities and seniors.
For more information about Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, visit the agency’s website at www.goodwillswfl.org.