Bill Gates is getting pretty good at this Secret Santa thing.
The Microsoft co-founder delivered another epic box of gifts to a lucky Reddit user as part of Reddit Gifts, a giant online gift exchange connecting internet stranger-friends around the world.
“I know you love making cards, so I’ve included lots of them in your gift: greeting cards, postcards, even playing cards!,” Gates wrote in his personal letter to Reddit user moondazed, who documented her reaction and photos here. “I may have tucked one card into a hiding place too. And look around for a special greeting from one of your favorite authors.”
That would be Hank Green, the popular YouTube vlogger who included a signed copy of one of his books and made a special video greeting for moondazed, a 49-year-old IT worker from Virginia.
Gates used clues from her profile page and Reddit posts to come up with more than a dozen additional items as part of the thoughtful gift:
- A hand-written haiku (Knitting, gardening … Working on her next novel … Moondazed’s perfect day).
- Custom-made blanket for her miniature horse with a Hayao Miyazaki movie-inspired design.
- Five books recommended by Gates.
- A deck of cards with book recommendations from Gates on each card.
- 10 sheets of stamps, including a heat-activated solar eclipse version.
- Yarn swift.
- Washi Tape.
- Purple dark chocolate and mint candies.
- Gift card for Michaels.
- A donation to Rikki’s Refuge, a local animal rescue, in moondazed’s name.
- Colored pencils; sharpener; and a blending tool.
- A sketchbook and a book on sketching cats.
- A Grand Canyon photo book.
- A framed photo of a humpback whale.
- A box of treats from Washington that included coffee; wild sockeye salmon; chocolate; scented glycerin soap; dried cherries; organic pancake and waffle mix; two sauces; a blown glass ornament; and a fisherman zipper bag.
“I read my message with a lump in my throat, because my Christmas spirit has been flagging a bit this year because of work and life and suddenly it all came rushing back!” moondazed wrote in her recap.
Gates, worth $92 billion, began participating in Reddit Secret Santa back in 2013 and got involved organically. Reddit says he simply signed up as any other user would. Other past high-profile participants to take part include Snoop Dogg, Ken Bone and Alyssa Milano. eBay CEO Devin Wenig got in on the fun this year. All Secret Santa participants are matched completely randomly.
And what about Gates’ secret santa? That Reddit user made a donation to International Rescue Committee in Gates’ name.
This year I asked my Secret Santa (one of my favorite @reddit traditions) to give to a cause that matters to them. My Santa is helping a young girl continue her education in a refugee camp through @theIRC: https://t.co/wtTunWwJaW pic.twitter.com/kkie3vk98O
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 20, 2018
