Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and a string of $1,000 donations to area Salvation Army kettles has inspired at least one 'copycat' giver.

Fox brings us a heart-warmer for the holidays. A trend that started elsewhere is catching on the Twin Cities: So far, four good Samaritans around the metro have called up Kmarts to pay off shoppers' layaway bills. In all four cases, they wished to remain anonymous. And the Star Tribune says another $1,000 has found its way into a Salvation Army kettle.

The Salvation Army says someone is going around stuffing neatly folded stacks of crisp $100 bills in kettles all over the east metro.

The latest robbery happened late Wednesday afternoon in Bloomington. The FBI believes it's the same suspect involved in a string of bank heists across the metro in the past several weeks.

Any donation to more than 21,000 groups before midnight tonight will automatically double, thanks to about $6 million in matching funds from Minnesota businesses, families and foundations.

Second Harvest Heartland was skeptical last year when the Minnesota Pork Producers dropped off 2,000 pounds of meat and promised to double the donation this year. But the group was gratefully surprised when the hog farmers came back Tuesday with 5,000 pounds of pork. Second Harvest will distribute it among 1,000 food banks around the state.