Woman who lost husband after all their children died sobs during Secret Santa surprise

The EastIdahoNews.com team is busy helping a local Secret Santa give $1 million to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season. 

This is the ninth year the Secret Santa is blessing people in our community and every day, from now until the end of the year, we will post videos of the recipients being surprised with these life-changing gifts. 

Ruth Clark's story is a testament to the strength of the human spirit, resilience, and selflessness. She has faced more challenges and heartache than most of us can even fathom. 

She and her husband raised five beautiful children together. Their four sons were born with Muscular Dystrophy and over time, each one of them died from complications associated with this devastating illness. Her only daughter, Becky, also died from a different illness leaving Ruth and her husband with no living children. 

Despite the weight and disappointment of losing all her children, Ruth embraced her role as a caregiver with grace and dedication. She balanced her role as a devoted wife and mother with her job, which she held for many years. She sacrificed her own dreams and desires to ensure her family received the care, attention, and love they needed. Her strength, both physical and emotional, was nothing short of remarkable. It was not uncommon for her to work a full day and then come home to attend to her children’s needs, all the while ensuring her husband had the support he required. 

After Secret Santa surprised a young father with ALS in 2017, Ruth called and asked if she and her husband Rick could donate their wheelchair-accessible van to the family. She showed up at their Ucon home and gave them the vehicle. Tragically, Rick died last month, leaving a void in Ruth's heart that will never truly heal. 

Secret Santa heard about Ruth and asked the East Idaho News team to pay her a visit with an early Christmas gift. Watch the surprise in the video player above.

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Woman who lost husband after all their children died sobs during Secret Santa surprise

'This is impossible!' Cheerful custodian breaks down crying opening gift from a Secret Santa

A local Secret Santa is giving $1 million to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season and the East Idaho News elves are helping out. 

Every day from now until the end of the year, we’ll be posting a Secret Santa surprise, and today we are surprising a custodian named Scott. 

He is a selfless man who is using his God-given talents as a custodian. He is cheerful, always whistling or humming as he works. He supports his family including his wife, who suffers from the effects of blindness, diabetes, cancer, and is on oxygen. He also has three chidlren and they all live in a single-wide trailer. 

Scott had an old car that broke down, and a friend gave him another old one to get by, but it has seen better days. He would love to take his wife on vacation or to see a play, or a musical presentation, but his car would not be able to get them where they needed to go, nor could he afford it. 

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'This is impossible!' Cheerful custodian breaks down crying opening gift from a Secret Santa

Single mom caring for her parents & blind daughter left stunned with big gift from Secret Santa

The EastIdahoNews.com team is busy helping a local Secret Santa give $1 million to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season. 

Mary is essentially caught in a rock and a hard place. She worked as a computer teacher at Taylor’s Crossing for many years and put in many extra hours after school, weekends, and most summers with no extra pay. 

Mary has a 22-year-old daughter who is legally blind and depends on her mother for everything. Her daughter has appointments with eye specialists at the University of Utah and in between visits, she does Telehealth to stay on top of her condition. 

Her youngest son is in high school, and both of Mary’s parents live with her and depend on her for help. Mary’s mom has recently had two knee replacements, which have required physical therapy, and her dad has injured his knee. Mary transports them to all their medical appointments, not to mention all the other things they need as they age. 

On top of everything, the only two vehicles she has are dying and require thousands of dollars to be usable. 

She just found out that one of her cars has metal in the fluids and it will cost several thousand dollars just to pull the engine to see what the problem is. Her van is 25 years old with 372,00 miles. 

Secret Santa asked the East Idaho News elves to visit Mary with an early Christmas gift. Watch the surprise in the video player above!

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Single mom caring for her parents & blind daughter left stunned with big gift from Secret Santa

Woman raising grandson injured in horrific crash surprised with heartfelt gifts from a Secret Santa

A local Secret Santa is giving $1 million to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season and the East Idaho News elves are helping out. 

Every day, from now until the end of the year, we’ll be posting a Secret Santa surprise and today we are visiting a deserving grandmother named Debi. 

Debi has guardianship of her four grandchildren. Her grandson, Christian, was in a terrible car crash a few years ago. The driver died and Christian was left with a life-altering traumatic brain injury.  

He was flown to St. Luke's in Boise where he clung to life for six weeks. Debi never left his side. By the grace of God, he survived and spent the following 13 months at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. Debi stayed with him the entire time while still managing to make sure Christian's three siblings were with trusted friends and adults.  

Because Christian's care is so intense, he was placed in a facility, but it has been Debi's dream to bring him home to be with the family. She worked hard for years to put herself in the position to have him return home and just last month, she finally did it. She moved into a new house and brought him home.

Christian is resilient - going from being an average 10-year-old boy to having the mental capacity of a toddler. He is walking again, but his care is 24/7 and extremely labor intensive.  

Debi takes care of Christian and his three siblings full-time. She has sacrificed everything to care for them, and she did everything in her power to keep her family together with the odds stacked against her. She is a remarkable person who has been through more than you can imagine.  

Secret Santa asked the East Idaho News elves to go surprise Debi with an early Christmas gift. 

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Woman raising grandson injured in horrific crash surprised with heartfelt gifts from a Secret Santa

Domino's pizza delivery driver raising newborn gets the biggest tip of his life from a Secret Santa

The EastIdahoNews.com team is busy helping a local Secret Santa give $1 million to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season. 

Nick is a recovering addict who has been sober for early six years. He is raising his 11-month-old daughter on his own. It's been a challenging time for him because he doesn't have much family here to help and he's been working full-time while taking care of a newborn. 

When Hailey was born, Nick was working a job where he had to wake up at 4 a.m. and ne to work by 5 a.m. Having a newborn and going without much sleep most nights made this work schedule very hard, so a few months ago he found a new job with better working hours. That job didn't work out because he didn't have enough experience, so for now he's working at Domino's delivering pizza. 

Nick adores his baby girl and she loves him. Everything he does is for her. He's doing all he can, the best he can, to build their life together. 

Secret Santa asked the East Idaho News elves to pay Nick a visit and we decided to have some fun with this surprise! Check out the video in the player above. 

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Domino's pizza delivery driver raising newborn gets the biggest tip of his life from a Secret Santa

He thought he was helping a Secret Santa. Instead he was surprised with a much-needed gift.

 

The EastIdahoNews.com team is busy helping a local Secret Santa give $1 million to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season. 

Kent, aka "The Donut Hole Man," makes sure that hundreds of people in our community get a 'Happy Birthday' phone call and if you are lucky, donut holes. He makes sure that the widows in his ward and neighborhood get roses on Valentine's Day. 

Kent volunteers at the Ririe Community Center every week, helping feed the veterans and the elderly. If his neighbors are in need or struggling, he is right there to give a helping hand with a hug and a smile and whatever help they need. If he is not helping others, he is not complete. 

Kent helps in the care of his elderly mother-in-law - all while battling his own health issues. He selflessly does all of this. He enjoys buying local and helping out the community. He truly loves Idaho and anyone he meets. There is no stranger in his life, he won't allow it. A helping hand, advice, a listening ear, a donut hole, or just a hello and a smile - that is Kent. 

Secret Santa asked the East Idaho News to give Kent an early Christmas gift. We set up a unique surprise to share the present! Watch the video in the player above.

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He thought he was helping a Secret Santa. Instead he was surprised with a much-needed gift.