On one of the fine mornings last week, Ms. Alicia Laurel found a parcel waiting by her doorstep which would probably be one of the best gifts of her life ever. Why you ask? Because the gift was handpicked and gifted by none other than her Secret Santa for the year – the tech titan and the popular philanthropist Bill Gates!
Pause for whooping! Yes you heard it right. The girl is certainly lucky to have got not only some amazing gifts but memories to cherish forever. Alicia, who lives with her pet dog and husband, didn’t receive her Secret Santa gift last year. She is a regular Reddit user ( goes by the name of ‘Aerrix’) and takes part in the Reddit Gifts scheme in which nearly 60,000 users across 120 countries also are included. But this year she was pleasantly surprised as the FedEx employee delivered her these 10 gift-wrapped goodies.
- The Whole Shebang
- An XBOX One
- XBOX Controllers
- A NES Classic Edition
- Some Bluerays
- Zelda Mittens
- Harry Potter themed Slippers
- Cajun cookbook because he read her profile where it says she’s from Southern Louisiana and misses her family’s home cooking
- And a photo of Aerrix, her partner, her dog – and a photoshopped-in Bill Gates
Also in the box was a note from Mr Gates saying:
Dear Aerrix,
“I can’t believe your Secret Santa left you hanging last year. To ensure you don’t lose faith in the Reddit Community I’ve enclosed several gifts that I hope you enjoy. There are a few video games for you to play, some things to keep you warm, and three of my favorite movies to watch over the holidays.
“I’ve also made a donation in your name to Code.org to help give more students the chance to learn computer science.
“With Best Wishes from Seattle, Bill Gates.
“P.S. I won’t be able to consult with the Sorting Hat but I can tell that you are quite clever – so I got a pair of Ravenclaw slippers from Hot Topic.”
But what exceed all these amazing gifts, which were picked according to Alicia’s passions, was one other gift that Bill Gates gave. He made a donation to code.org, a non-profit that helps students learn computer skills, in her name! “I’m just blown away by his generosity, which went even further than all these gifts because he submitted a donation to code.org in my name to give more students the chance to learn computer science, which is AWESOME because it’s something near and dear to my heart as my husband is a programmer and my brother has a degree in computer science!” she wrote.
The Secret Santa is a role that has been in fact reprised by Mr. Gates. Back in 2013, he had played the same role for another person called Rachel. The Reddit user received matching mittens for her and her dog, a teddy bear, a coffee table book called “Journeys of a Lifetime,” and a donation made on her behalf to Heifer International, a global nonprofit that works to end poverty and hunger through sustainable agriculture production and education.
“I would love to send a thank you card or some kind of something to him,” Ms Laurel told the reporters. “There was a return address, but I’m not sure if it would actually get to him.” Well seems like Mr. Gates has garnered even more admirers than he already has. It was especially heartening to see how he customized and picked the gifts which Ms. Laurel would actually like. Miracles do happen. Happy Holidays everyone and hope your Secret Santa brings you much joy!
Read her whole post on Reddit here!
