A Secret Santa surprise for a foster mom and veteran who has spent years putting kids first

A local Secret Santa is giving $1 million to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season. Every day, from now until the end of the year, the East Idaho News elves will be delivering gifts from Secret Santa and we’ll be sharing the surprise videos here.

A Pocatello mother and U.S. Coast Guard veteran received an unexpected holiday blessing this week after years of sacrificing her own needs to care for her family.

Kellie Alcorn, a single mother to three foster children, has spent more than eight years building a stable home for the siblings she took in. She later added a fourth sibling to keep the family together. A U.S. Coast Guard veteran and nurse by training, Kellie stepped away from her career so she could focus on the children’s significant needs.

Kellie began raising the children in Blackfoot, where they first enrolled in school. When she later moved to Pocatello to continue her education and work toward becoming a registered nurse, she didn’t want to uproot the kids. Instead, for the past five years, she has driven them back and forth to their school in Blackfoot every day to preserve their routine and stability.

The daily commute has put heavy wear on her aging vehicle, which now needs to be replaced.

Secret Santa asked the East Idaho News elves to surprise Kellie for Christmas. Check out the video in the player above.

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