BY JOHN WISELY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Santa doesn't always come down the chimney.

Sometimes he uses the back aisle of a thrift shop, or even the steps of a Detroit bus to spread Christmas cheer.

Santa -- or more appropriate, Secret Santa -- visited Detroit and Downriver on Thursday, handing out more than $13,000 in $100 bills to those who looked like they needed a little help.

All Santa asks in return: a random act of kindness for someone else.

There were tears, hoots and even a refusal to take the help. But all were thankful.

"I can't believe it," said Madonna Monroe, 47, of Lincoln Park when Santa and his two elves handed her a $100 bill as she worked in the Complete Laundry in Lincoln Park. "I just put Mom in the hospital last night because she has cancer."

When Santa heard that, he handed her another $100: "Buy her some flowers," he said.

Peggy Vincent found out last year that her 6-year-old son, John, has leukemia.
Since then, medical and other bills have consumed most of her money, and there's nary a Christmas decoration in the Lincoln Park home they share with Vincent's older son, Joe.

"That's unbelievable. That is unbelievable," she said as tears poured down her face Thursday when Secret Santa and his two elves visited and gave her three $100 bills. "All I have is Joe and John. You all just freaked me out."

Vincent couldn't believe strangers were standing in her living room giving her cash. She apologized for wearing a housedress and not tidying up, then quickly hugged her helpers.

She was one of dozens of metro Detroiters helped by Secret Santa and his elves, who allowed the Free Press exclusively to tag along as they spread holiday cheer Downriver and in Detroit.

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The skinny on Santa

While Santa and his elves ask anonymity, this much we can share: Santa and his main elf are married and live comfortably in metro Detroit. They work hard and figure they've caught some breaks in life. Their goal is to find and help others who didn't.

With them was another elf, a one-time Detroiter who returned for the first time in more than 20 years to help.

Their kids, their friends and even their bank tellers are oblivious to how they help others.

Their help comes in the form of C-notes with the words "Secret Santa" printed on the back in red ink. There's no form to fill out and no credit check required, just a crispy hundred -- maybe a few -- and the request to spread kindness to someone soon.

"The dirty little secret of this is all the fun we have doing it," Mrs. Claus said.

And who couldn't have fun rolling through town in a police cruiser with a fist full of Franklins and cheeks full of cheer a week before Christmas?

Tonya Wojciechowski's father hadn't worked in more than a year because of a leg amputation and died suddenly Dec. 11.

"We had no money to even bury him," the Lincoln Park resident said.

They got through it, but Christmas was an afterthought because the family, including Wojciechowski's three children, couldn't summon the joy, or the cash, to celebrate. That is, until Santa and his elves arrived.

"I think they are angels," Wojciechowski said when Santa gave her $400. "I'm going to give my kids a Christmas."

Fay Givens burst into tears when Santa handed her $800 and told her to keep helping others through American Indian Services, the social services agency she works for that helps Native Americans.

Givens said a client came in last week who was living under a bridge on Springwells in southwest Detroit. She emptied the till for him, but it wasn't much.

"All we could give him was $17," said Givens, a Mississippi Choctaw who lives in Trenton. "He had a can opener, so we gave him some canned pears and peaches. I'm so overwhelmed."

How Santa finds folks to help
Santa finds many people at random, but others are referred through police departments that run Goodfellows organizations. Lincoln Park Sgt. Joe Lavis helped Santa find some deserving folks and drove Santa and the elves around in a souped-up police cruiser -- a 1981 Plymouth Grand Fury.

"There are just a lot of hurting people," Lavis said.

It was great fun until the car wouldn't start after lunch. But that's another story.

Susan Suddeth, 57, said she and her husband were making about $2,700 a month two years ago with their cleaning business, but lost their main contract. They fought their way through foreclosure, bankruptcy and the death of her mother. And the couple's heat has been shut off since Nov. 20 because they can't pay the bill.

"I'm going to get it turned back on," Susan Suddeth said after Santa and his elves handed her $600. "I think they are a gift from God."

A blessing at Focus: HOPE
Others felt touched by angels, too.

Detroit Police Sgt. Daran Carey took Santa and the elves to Focus: HOPE in Detroit.

"This is a blessing," said Jacqueline Chapman, 69, of Detroit, after receiving $200 as she pushed her walker through the Focus: HOPE Food Center. She has spinal stenosis and heart trouble, and recently had knee surgery.

Inside Focus: HOPE's training center, Vickie Sappe, 58, of Detroit couldn't hold back tears after receiving $200 to brighten Christmas for her and her children and grandchildren.

"I've been laid off for more than a year," she said. "It's been tough, but I have faith. I'm going to spend it on my grandchildren."

Outside, Carey flagged down a Detroit Department of Transportation bus on Oakman. The driver was perplexed as Carey, Santa and his elves boarded the bus to hand $100 bills to the dozen passengers on board and the driver.

"Merrrrrrrry Christmas," the driver said as Santa and his helpers got off the bus and the passengers waved frantically out the window.

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