Cape Coral woman starts ‘Hide-N-Seek Santa’

Reporter: Michelle Alvarez Writer: Drew Hill
Published: Updated:
gift card
Credit: WINK News

A woman is hiding gifts across Cape Coral and posting to social media with clues on their whereabouts. Needless to say, this holiday scavenger hunt has created quite a bit of buzz.

Genelle Bennett is the woman behind what is known as “Hide-N-Seek Santa.” “The goal of the whole thing is to make somebody’s Christmas,” said Bennett.

She hides new and unwrapped gifts throughout Cape Coral then posts the clues on where to find them on the private Cape Coral Resident’s Group Facebook page. “If there’s just one extra gift under the tree for a child or a family member, that means a lot to me. So, if one of my gifts can make somebody’s Christmas, that’s all I want,” Bennett said.

Bennett pays for each gift out of her own pocket. She began hiding the gifts on Thanksgiving Day and will continue until Christmas Eve. “I personally don’t have kids which allows me to give,” Bennett said. “It’s the holidays and there’s no better time than now to do something like this.”

WINK News joined Bennett as she hid a $40 gift card on a strip mall sign along Santa Babara Boulevard. Then she posted to Facbeook. Not 10 minutes later, Madalyn Duncan showed up and claimed her prize.

“It felt fun,” Duncan said. “My mom called my dad and he like screamed on the phone, to come to zoom, ran really fast so that’s how we found it on Facebook.”

Bennett’s hope is that people will see the story and start Hide-N-Seek Santas in their towns. “Like… that my ultimate goal is that more people hop on board and get involved. And show your kids how it is how it feels to give,” said Bennett.

“Getting gifts is great, but giving gifts really does something for your soul,” Bennett said.

Genelle Bennett hopes that people will get creative with their Hide-N-Seek Santa gifts. For, example, she said, buy a cake, and the first person to walk into the bakery and say “hide-n-seek” wins.

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