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With a KC assist, elves return family’s treasures
By MICHAEL VITEZ and WENDY RUDERMAN
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA | Elizabeth Schmincke has no Christmas tree. Not one light or decoration. No presents. Not even a candy cane.
“We’re not going to have Christmas,” she said Friday in her apartment. “I’m just not in the mood.”
Schmincke, 39, and her children were evicted from their home in July.
The family split up: Her daughter went to live with an uncle; her son moved in with his older brother; Schmincke went to live with her husband, from whom she had separated, in his rooming house.
Schmincke stashed all her possessions — her wedding dress, her photo albums, her grandmother’s bureau — in public storage for $270 a month.
Last fall, she got a job working from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. at UPS, scrounged together money for rent, and moved the family into their current place. But she’s already behind on rent and has never paid the storage bill.
On Tuesday her possessions were auctioned off.
The high bidder was an elf.
Officially, the bidder was the “lead elf on the Philadelphia Schmincke project,” dispatched by the “Chief Elf” in Kansas City.
Until Sunday, Christmas Eve, Elizabeth Schmincke did not believe in elves.
She also thought her most cherished possessions were gone forever.
Until the elves arrived.
And the moving van.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Schmincke’s life has been a tale of woe. She has suffered from back pain for years, unable to work. Because she can’t work, she has been evicted from apartments three times.
Her mother recently died. Her husband, Francis, with whom she has reconciled, was also out of work for months because of a hernia operation, though he is now working a warehouse job.
On Dec. 10, desperate for help, she saw on television a story about a “Secret Santa” in Kansas City. She e-mailed The Kansas City Star, hoping it would forward her e-mail to Santa.
“You are our last hope before we lose ALL our belongings,” she wrote. “… I have no idea where else to turn.”
Santa was sick, out of action.
But for the last 17 years, a group of elves in and around Kansas City has been doing good deeds — anonymously — for people in need. A reporter for The Star contacted the “Chief Elf.”
One of the Kansas City elves does work with Comcast and recruited a Comcast employee he knows in West Chester, Pa. The elf took a day off work to drive to Public Storage in Philadelphia and bought the family’s possessions at auction.
“It is probably one of the most satisfying, rewarding things I’ve ever done,” said the West Chester elf, who, like all elves, will remain nameless.
Another Kansas City elf contacted someone with United Van Lines in Missouri, who suggested the elves contact his friend Bob Hughes, who runs Hughes Relocation Services in King of Prussia, Pa.
The Chief Elf e-mailed Hughes, explained the situation, and wrote: “If you can help, it would be greatly appreciated. Santa’s sleigh is overloaded right now.”
Hughes is not officially an elf, so he can be identified. He agreed to have his company make the surprise delivery.
“How can you say no?” he asked.
Elizabeth Schmincke had been weeping every night. Her husband called the auctioneer three times, begging for a delay.
Unbeknown to the Schminckes, their new landlord had filed to evict them because they had fallen behind on rent again. But the elves raised money for rent.
The Schminckes learned about the elves — and their good deeds — at 10 a.m. Sunday when three children in elf hats knocked on their door.
“Are you sure you got the right house?” asked Francis Schmincke.
The pixies didn’t say a word. They handed him an envelope and darted off.
Inside the envelope was a one-sentence letter: “Please read your e-mail now!!”
Puzzled, Elizabeth Schmincke turned on her computer. There, sure enough, was an e-mail from the Chief Elf.
“Dearest Elizabeth,” the message began, “we read with great interest your recent e-mails, which were forwarded to us, concerning your troubles. We were greatly moved by them. In this season of hope and joy our hearts were heavy with sadness, and we knew that we must act.”
The elf explained that the family’s back rent for November and December is now paid in full.
The e-mail included a postscript: “You might check out front. Your memories are arriving.”
Just then, a moving van rumbled up the street.
Then elves of a different sort — the kind in heavy brown boots and blue work pants — hopped out of the van, the sides of which were papered with Christmas gift wrap.
Box by box, they unloaded a lifetime of cherished family keepsakes, heirlooms and home comforts.
Elizabeth Schmincke cried joyfully.
“I’m shocked. My stomach is all in knots,” said her husband. “Whoever was behind this I’d like to know, because nobody does stuff like this for other people anymore.”
Submitted by Richard
By MICHAEL VITEZ and WENDY RUDERMAN
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA | Elizabeth Schmincke has no Christmas tree. Not one light or decoration. No presents. Not even a candy cane.
“We’re not going to have Christmas,” she said Friday in her apartment. “I’m just not in the mood.”
Schmincke, 39, and her children were evicted from their home in July.
The family split up: Her daughter went to live with an uncle; her son moved in with his older brother; Schmincke went to live with her husband, from whom she had separated, in his rooming house.
Schmincke stashed all her possessions — her wedding dress, her photo albums, her grandmother’s bureau — in public storage for $270 a month.
Last fall, she got a job working from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. at UPS, scrounged together money for rent, and moved the family into their current place. But she’s already behind on rent and has never paid the storage bill.
On Tuesday her possessions were auctioned off.
The high bidder was an elf.
Officially, the bidder was the “lead elf on the Philadelphia Schmincke project,” dispatched by the “Chief Elf” in Kansas City.
Until Sunday, Christmas Eve, Elizabeth Schmincke did not believe in elves.
She also thought her most cherished possessions were gone forever.
Until the elves arrived.
And the moving van.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Schmincke’s life has been a tale of woe. She has suffered from back pain for years, unable to work. Because she can’t work, she has been evicted from apartments three times.
Her mother recently died. Her husband, Francis, with whom she has reconciled, was also out of work for months because of a hernia operation, though he is now working a warehouse job.
On Dec. 10, desperate for help, she saw on television a story about a “Secret Santa” in Kansas City. She e-mailed The Kansas City Star, hoping it would forward her e-mail to Santa.
“You are our last hope before we lose ALL our belongings,” she wrote. “… I have no idea where else to turn.”
Santa was sick, out of action.
But for the last 17 years, a group of elves in and around Kansas City has been doing good deeds — anonymously — for people in need. A reporter for The Star contacted the “Chief Elf.”
One of the Kansas City elves does work with Comcast and recruited a Comcast employee he knows in West Chester, Pa. The elf took a day off work to drive to Public Storage in Philadelphia and bought the family’s possessions at auction.
“It is probably one of the most satisfying, rewarding things I’ve ever done,” said the West Chester elf, who, like all elves, will remain nameless.
Another Kansas City elf contacted someone with United Van Lines in Missouri, who suggested the elves contact his friend Bob Hughes, who runs Hughes Relocation Services in King of Prussia, Pa.
The Chief Elf e-mailed Hughes, explained the situation, and wrote: “If you can help, it would be greatly appreciated. Santa’s sleigh is overloaded right now.”
Hughes is not officially an elf, so he can be identified. He agreed to have his company make the surprise delivery.
“How can you say no?” he asked.
Elizabeth Schmincke had been weeping every night. Her husband called the auctioneer three times, begging for a delay.
Unbeknown to the Schminckes, their new landlord had filed to evict them because they had fallen behind on rent again. But the elves raised money for rent.
The Schminckes learned about the elves — and their good deeds — at 10 a.m. Sunday when three children in elf hats knocked on their door.
“Are you sure you got the right house?” asked Francis Schmincke.
The pixies didn’t say a word. They handed him an envelope and darted off.
Inside the envelope was a one-sentence letter: “Please read your e-mail now!!”
Puzzled, Elizabeth Schmincke turned on her computer. There, sure enough, was an e-mail from the Chief Elf.
“Dearest Elizabeth,” the message began, “we read with great interest your recent e-mails, which were forwarded to us, concerning your troubles. We were greatly moved by them. In this season of hope and joy our hearts were heavy with sadness, and we knew that we must act.”
The elf explained that the family’s back rent for November and December is now paid in full.
The e-mail included a postscript: “You might check out front. Your memories are arriving.”
Just then, a moving van rumbled up the street.
Then elves of a different sort — the kind in heavy brown boots and blue work pants — hopped out of the van, the sides of which were papered with Christmas gift wrap.
Box by box, they unloaded a lifetime of cherished family keepsakes, heirlooms and home comforts.
Elizabeth Schmincke cried joyfully.
“I’m shocked. My stomach is all in knots,” said her husband. “Whoever was behind this I’d like to know, because nobody does stuff like this for other people anymore.”
Submitted by Richard
