It's sometimes fun to be part of a Secret Santa gift exchange, but it's much more fun to be in Reddit's Secret Santa gift exchange, which involves tens of thousands of mostly anonymous participants. But what's better than that? Finding out your Secret Santa, "Bill," is none other than Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
That's what happened to Reddit user NY1227, also known as "Rachel" on the address line of her gift from "Bill."
In her post on Reddit Gifts titled, "Spoiler alert: Bill Gates did not get you, because he got me," Rachel posted pictures of the gift and card she got in the mail earlier this week. Rachel decided to document opening her 7 pound Secret Santa gift, starting with the outside of the box. She describes opening the box and finding a cute cow stuffed animal: "The first thing I noticed was a stuffed animal. I didn't know I gave off the stuffed animal vibe, but I excitedly added him to my collection of teddy bears and other delightful friendly creatures."
Then, she found the card addressed to her: "To me, from Bill... I thought Bill sounded like a friendly fellow. In fact, I had this wishlist full of makeup, nailpolish, glittery things to buy me. Quite frankly I felt bad for this 'Bill' since I'm a self identified pain in the ass to shop for."
Once she opened the card, she figured out what the stuffed animal was about.
Gate's card said that he was getting Rachel a cow for Christmas - but not to worry or start building a barn. The cow was a gift in her name to Heifer International, a non-profit organization (and favorite of Bill and Melinda Gates) that enables people to donate a cow or other useful animals that can provide an income and dairy products to communities in need across the world. The charity also gives families in need other essentials like seeds, clean water, or a chance for girls to go to school, in order to help families and communities lift themselves out of poverty. After the story broke, Gates later suggested everyone take part in #GivingTuesday by donating to World Vision or Heifer International.
For her part, Rachel found the gift incredibly fitting - because her master's degree is in education. "It makes me so happy that he was able to donate to a charity on my behalf that helped people with both needs and educational benefits. Nailed it, Bill!" wrote Rachel, adding that she can only imagine the amount donated on her behalf was "QUITE a bit."
She also was gifted a travel book, "Journeys of a lifetime," and a picture - of her Secret Santa holding the gifts she'd just received.
Despite the "Bill Gates" signature on the card, it was only at this moment during her unboxing - looking a picture of Bill Gates proving the Secret Santa was in fact him - that Rachel fully realized who had sent her the package.
Read more on her post for her reaction. It's priceless.
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