Residents in the town of Earlham, Indiana woke up Thursday, checked their mailboxes and found a gift. It wasn’t like Christmas had arrived, but it was close. An anonymous donor surprised the town of about 1,400 that sits 30 minutes from downtown Des Moines by purchasing gift cards to three local businesses and arranging for the city to send them to every household. The cards added up to more than $82,000 spent by the donor between the three restaurants, or more than $27,000 each.
