A mystery man has given each household in a small Iowa town a gift card amounting to US$150 each during the coronavirus pandemic, totalling $82,000 (CA$115,000) in donations.
Earlham, Iowa has a population of approximately 1,450 people. The town’s mayor, Jeff Lillie, received a call from a friend informing him about the interested anonymous donor. “When I told him there were 549 households in town, he said, ‘Done,'” Lillie told the Washington Post of the March 26 call. “I was ecstatic because it made sure everyone would get a card.” Not long after, the homes began receiving a set of three gift cards for local stores, per USA Today — West Side Bar and Grille, Hometown Market and Trostel’s Broken Branch.