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RHODE ISLAND — A Canadian businessman touched by the story of a single mother of five struggling at Christmastime decided to go beyond providing her family with Christmas presents: he paid off more than $35,000 in student loans and wired the woman $5,000 to help with expenses.
Starlie Becote caught the attention of the man, who wished to remain anonymous, when she was featured in a December USA Today article about people with financial difficulties at the holidays.
The man first attempted to sent the U.S. Department of Education a check, but it could not be accepted because it was drawn on a Canadian bank. He eventually had to wire the money to a relative in the U.S., who then paid it off, according to USA Today.
Becote's student loan payments had been $400 before that point — much more than she could afford while making $13.65 an hour as a case manager for a community mental health center. The loans were incurring $6 a day in interest.
The mom of five said she was likely going to have to default on her student loans, meaning she would not have been able to borrow money to go to graduate school to become a licensed social worker.
She told USA Today she wanted a college degree so her children could have a different life, instead of spending their lives in and out of shelters. She said she was elated by the gift.
"You don't hear about people that do huge things like for people," she said. "I can't believe anything like that ever happened to me in my life."
