Spreading smiles and $100 bills

St Louis: At a suburban thrift store on Friday, Theresa Settles selected a large, black comforter to warm her family until she can raise the money to turn the gas heat back on.

A petite woman approached, her face obscured by dark sunglasses and a wrapped winter scarf, and handed Settles two $100 bills stamped with the words "secret Santa". "The only condition," she said, "is that you do something nice for someone. Pass it on".

The secret Santa was a protege of Kansas City's undercover gift giver, Larry Stewart, who died of cancer nearly two years ago. Stewart roamed city streets each December doling out $100 bills to anyone who looked like they might need a lift.

Before his death in January 2007, Stewart told a friend how much he would miss his 26 years of anonymous streetside giving, during which he gave away about $1.3 million [Dh4.77 million].

The friend promised Stewart he would be a secret Santa the next year. "He squeezed my hand and that was it," said the Kansas City Santa, who would say only that he was a businessman and investor.

Two secret Santas descended on thrift stores and a small auto repair shop to dole out $20,000 in $100 bills, hugs and words of encouragement to unsuspecting souls in need. In this economy, they weren't hard to find.