Man who helped others during major Idaho Falls flood gets a surprise 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.

Lee goes out of his way to help others constantly. When the Idaho Falls floods occurred in May and June, he was out helping other families before his own. After the floods, Lee spent so much time repairing other people’s home. He spent all of his savings (including what he had set aside to buy a small truck) and much more to rebuild the basement he had been remodeling before the flood.

Another person sent this to Secret Santa:

During the flood his family came and helped pull water out of my house. Being a single mother of four kids, Lee offered to help me repair my daughter’s room using his own materials and pitching in on costs. His house was also flooded and every family member has a bedroom in the basement and the flood took everything they had. Currently they are all sharing the living room floor. He has gone above and beyond to serve others.

Another neighbor sent this in:

The Stimpsons moved in next door about 5 years ago. I’m a bit “anti-getting to know your neighbor”, and their warmth, helpfulness, and caring spirit has opened the opportunity for me to get to know them and the rest of the neighbors. Before I knew it, I was beyond grateful they lived next to us. They work tirelessly to be a good neighbor to everyone on this block. An elderly man two doors down was diagnosed with cancer. They would check on him and take him food. I had no clue he had no family or needed help and I’ve been his neighbor for over 10 years. They feel like family more than neighbors. A massive storm on May 23 of 2023 changed everything for the neighbors on this street. The Stimpson’s had almost completed their basement as it’s where they sleep. The flood was devastating. The Stimpsons worked well into the evening and next day helping whoever they could while working tirelessly to save what they could. Our basement entrance stairwell was filled with debris and mud and they spent the whole day helping us dig it out. When we could finally access our basement to begin gathering belongings, they came over to our house to carefully help save family heirlooms and pulled each piece out of the sludge/debris. They helped us clean and store them. They continue to help others constantly and I’ll be forever grateful.

Secret Santa asked the East Idaho News elves to find Lee and surprise him with a gift. Check out the video in the player above.