Well that's pretty cool. However.... they need a cop standing by. Because you never know if that one guy you gave a $100 to is going to come back minutes later & rob you.

The famous secret santa of Kansas city (RIP) had a uniformed cop nearby when he did this.

Dont talk to me about mall security.... more often than not they are just armed with a flashlight & a walkie-talkie.

After getting an inheritance, my mother in law did that with twenty-dollar bills in downtown Houston in an area where the homeless hang out. Needless to say, the homeless came out of the woodwork and she was quickly mobbed, and had to retreat into her car and leave.

SECRET SANTA...

It is very considerate...but might have been more helpful if they stood outside a soup kitchen or women's shelter instead.

That's awfully nice. I can understand why the police would be curious. Wouldn't do to have somebody handing out fake benjamins.

What exactly is illegal about being generous?

You get the cops called on you if you're an asshole.

Now apparently you get them called on you if you're nice.

Why not just start calling the cops on everyone just for existing?

@youbastid: Lol, exactly what I was thinking. If you're rich enough to shop at the mall, you don't need $100.

You know, I like these guys' style. Remaining anonymous is to me the true definition of charity. When you see people getting press for charity... is it really charity or just fulfilling the persons need for attention or other lame need.

I wish I had enough money to do this in front of somewhere like the Salvation Army or Goodwill or something. It would be a lot of fun...

That was nice, but if you're going to be charitable why not give the money to people who really need it, ie the starving children in Africa. Plus charity never gets anything resolved, it really just prolongs the behavior that produces needy people. If anything why don't you buy someone lessons on how to manage money or pay for their education so they can get a good job and help themselves. My two cents; bah humbug.

Yeah - because God knows people in Massapequa need extra money...

But nice thought though.. :)

@Buran: What a suspicious comment...

@Buran: (oops, I also typed "picks up phone and starts dialing," but I put it in html markup tags and the comments function ate it)

Hey just be thankful someone cares to give from their heart and say a prayer for yourself instead of trying to decide how they could have done a better job giving the money out....

awesome. i love when people do nice things for others.

i do find it kinda odd that they chose to do this in a shopping mall. I would prefer to hand the bills out to families in low-income housing neighborhood, veterans or at discount places like Big Lots... where the lower class are more likely to shop.

but i still think these guys are awesome.

The resemblance of that photo to some of mine is uncanny. I stared at the photo for a few seconds and ultimately had to load mine up to confirm it wasn't the same.

@REVEROV - That was nice, but if you're going to be charitable why not give the money to people who really need it, ie the starving children in Africa...

The problem with giving to starving children is that it will just lead to ever more people breeding ever more starving children. There is no end. The real solution is to give to population planning groups.

@Buran:

I think you are missing some of the logic. What if these people were playing a practical joke?

Think about the problems that would occur if they were distributing counterfeits and people went to spend them.

Unfortunately, some people would think doing something like that would be funny, then sit back and let the chaos begin. People will get arrested, stores will get losses, etc.

@formatc: wow!

@iamme99:
You must have missed the part where I said, "Plus charity never gets anything resolved, it really just prolongs the behavior that produces needy people." That goes for those starving children too. I was just saying if you are going to be charitable, you should give it to the real needy people. I think its safe to say that nobody in the US can trump the needy people outside the US.

@ShadowFalls: And the fact that you assume they're guilty first is as sad as the rest of it.

You know it sucks when you can't be nice and give away your own money in your own way without a bunch of people second guessing how you should do it.

@trollkiller: That's because there are educated ways of using your money and this is probably one of the least educated decisions. Some of us are just sick of people using their money to encourage needy behavior. Granted, they can use their money how they want to, but we can still voice our opinions. Now that I've said that, I'm sure you'll want to go give some street bums a dollar so they can go buy booze.

Street bum? Give me the dollar for booze

These two brothers tried to do something generous. let's stop judging on how they should have used their money in helping others. Everyone has their own (opinions)ways of handling and doing things. The point is it was VERY generous of what these two brothers did. :-)

@PinkBunnySlippers: I live in Massapequa. I assume that this act of generosity was performed in the Sunrise Mall. The Sunrise Mall is frequented by many people who do not live in Massapequa and are definitely in a lower-income bracket.

Rent is cheaper in Massapequa than most places in the City.

@Reverov: Rev, there are more people in the world who are obese than are "starving". So perhaps we shouldn't be sending MORE food. And I don't mean just in America. I mean world-wide. That's why I participated in OneLaptopPerChild. Reminds me of the old proverb which ends, "teach someone to fish, and they'll eat for a lifetime."

The security guard reminds me of the Simpsons. "He's bringing love and peace, awwwww."
"Quick, break it's legs so he can't get away!!"

I don't see what these guys were doing as charity. They were just handing out $100 bills as a Christmas gift to random people. You know . . . a simple, kind act. There is no negative to this story and anyone who is trying to spin it in that direction really needs to take a good hard look at themselves first.

Some people always have to find fault in everything people do. So they didn't hang out in front of a soup kitchen. Its their money, they get to choose who benefits from it.

@nardo218: And in Long Island at that...

@forgottenpassword: I was going to say you shouldn't need a gun to fend off an opportunist thief. But then I remembered any idiot can buy a gun anywhere, and realised that yeah you probably do.

@youbastid: right on. You're basically giving money to all the people who are overspending and going into debt. Wow, that sounds familiar...isn't the government doing the same thing? :)

I see it as a good thing that the police were called to the scene.... because lets say they were not, and the scene turned into a riot or very uncontrollable.

... then the same people who say it was stupid to call the police would be saying why didn't they see how this could turn into an uncontrollable situation and call the police when they first found out about it.

So yes, very good to call police - and very good that they were allowed to continue to spread their holiday cheer how they wanted.

@MonkeyMonk: I agree. Someone gives away their money and they're wrong for it? All charity is wrong? Yeesh!

I get wanting to make sure the money is legit, but the rest of it?

And of all of the malls on Long Island, why did they choose the Sunrise Mall? Ugh. I avoid that place like the plague. And it is the only mall on Long Island with a Wal-Mart in it.

I used to work in that mall, at the Wiz, when I was in college. I've only been there once since then, and I will never go back.

To those that are questioning these brothers about how they spent their money...or where...um, get a Christmas! This is the second time I have heard about something like this in my lifetime and all I can think is that I wish I was there with them handing out money too. It is this kind of act that spreads generosity and good will. It is this kind of act we should ALL strive to attain. It shouldn't be a one time thing, a seasonal thing, but an ALL THE TIME thing! If each one of us could do this on even a much smaller level, the whole world would be a better place and everyone would benefit from it.
@GitEmSteveDave: The OneLaptopPerChild campaign is amazing!

@Buran: Well, who knows if they robbed someone for the money?

Who knows where the money came from?

Chairty is great, but if it's not legit then it's just laundering.

I think it's wonderful to see someone out there trying to do something generous. There are any number of alternative ways one could choose to be generous, but I think the important thing is that someone made an effort to help others in a tangible way. Hopefully more ppl (especially those of us who think there are better ways to be generous)will follow their lead.

I agree that it was good of them to give away money, but it could've been given to someone who didn't have the money to even think of going to the mall to get things that aren't needed to live, things usually found in a mall.

I think if they handed money out to needy people, it would make a bigger difference.

Take this woman for instance...she's got cancer and needs money to help pay medical bills. I'm sure she would appreciate money more than a random person going to the mall.
[kerrie.chipin.com]

@Reverov: That's because there are educated ways of using your money and this is probably one of the least educated decisions. Some of us are just sick of people using their money to encourage needy behavior.
How are these guys encouraging needy behavior? They are not down on skid row giving cash, they are not at the homeless shelter giving cash, and they are not at the women's shelter giving cash. They are handing out money to random people. Maybe they were handing out money to people that were being polite, or maybe they were handing it out to people with kids in tow.

You of all people should be applauding them for not feeding into the cycle of needy behavior. Do you expect mobs of needy working people to clog up the malls hoping for a free handout?

@ironchef: I think if they handed money out to needy people, it would make a bigger difference.

Take this woman for instance...she's got cancer and needs money to help pay medical bills. I'm sure she would appreciate money more than a random person going to the mall.

So how much have you given this woman?

Awww, very nice!

@Reverov: Oh yeah sure the billions of dollars that gets sent to Africa to help starving despots...err children sure goes to good use. Let me tell you a little story, when I was in the Air Force we were part of a UN mission to deliver food to Rawandan refugees. We were giving out small bags of rice, we would break down 50pd bags into 50 1pd bags. Enough rice to feed a family ther for a week or so.

Within 10 min of us starting to hand out the food a convoy of trucks and cars roared up and started shooting at us. They wanted to take the rice to sell it on the black market. If we hadn't had our own armored vehicles and gunships we would have all been killed and the 10 tons of rice stolen and sold or just taken by the ruling warlord.

Most of the food we send to the "starving" people does not get to the needy people. it goes to a corrupt government or warlord.

I prefer to give my charity to needy Americans, where at least I know the majority of charities are legal and will give the money, food etc. to the needy people.

I do not remember the report but somewhere near 75% of the homeless men in America are Vets. I think they deserve our help more than anyone else.

@Onouris: Yep your so right I got a 357 at the 7-11 last night god they are just everywhere. Think again it takes a lot of effort to legally purchase a handgun in America. The majority of gun violence is perpetrated by people who bought illegal guns. Trust me I didn't spend $700 on a handgun and pay an additional $60 just to have all the reports and crap ran on me so that I could purchase a handgun, just to use it once or twice while commiting a crime and destroy it.

@Buran: Who's assuming anything? The police were called because unusual activity was going on that may or may not have been connected to criminal activity. The police have just as much a right to be in a public space as the rest of us, and arguably have a duty to as well.

(ducks to avoid libertarian-nutjob attacks)

That's pretty cool of them - and now that I know they do it every year, I'll make sure I go next year on Christmas Eve!

I can't believe I haven't heard of this yet, I go to this mall all the time (it's only 5 miles from my house).

@Crymson_77: The campaign is amazing. The delivery is sort of messed up right now. But it's their first try. Give 1 Get 1 is still open till Dec. 31st