Mystery donor with bucket of money for robbed mum

A mystery benefactor has brightened the lives of a young Grovedale family after reading in Buckets and Bouquets how a thief had ruined their Christmas.
The man, who did not want to be identified, sent a $300 cheque through the Independent to single-mother-of-two Leanne Althaus this week.
The January 11 Independent published a bucket from Ms Althaus to the thief who stole her purse at Centrelink in December.
“I’m a single mum struggling financially and you stole every cent I’d saved for Christmas,” Ms Althaus wrote under the pen name ‘Shattered’.
“How do I explain to my two young boys that Santa won’t be coming?”
The Melbourne donor said the story touched his heart when he read the Independent while visiting Geelong this month.
“Boys should have toys and mums should have hope and trust,” the man wrote to the Independent in a letter accompanying the cheque.
“Although (the cheque) mightn’t be in time for Christmas perhaps it will make a small difference for them all.”
Ms Althaus was “shocked” when the Independent told her about the anonymous donation.
“It’s really restored my faith in people,” she said.
“If I could meet (the donor) I would just thank him from the bottom of my heart and explain how much his generosity means to me.”
Ms Althaus said her eldest son, four-year-old Jaxon, was “shattered” when she told him about the theft and how it would affect his Christmas.
She had to seek the assistance of charity organisation Concern for her boys’ Christmas presents after the theft.
Ms Althaus said she was not seeking help when she wrote her bucket, just an opportunity to let the thief know the “ramifications of their silly act”.
Ms Althaus planned to use the money to cover kindergarten expenses for Jaxon, who started this week, and to buy a new cot for his 11-month-old brother, Jordan.
Police were seeking Centrelink surveillance video to identify the thief, she said.