This holiday season, anonymous Good Samaritans stepped up to help families in need from coast to coast. These men and women, called “layaway angels,” plunked down large sums of cash at their local retailers to pay off the layaway account balances for total strangers.
In Bellingham, Mass. Toys R Us, a generous woman paid off every single layaway balance to the tune of $20,000, local TV station Fox 25 reports. “I have no words. I can’t believe someone would do that, it’s so nice,” Diane Brewer, a mom from Mendon who was working extra shifts to pay for presents for her son, tells the station. “I have been running around all week picking up layaways everywhere, so this is really awesome.”
At an Oldsmar, Fla. Walmart, one man (later identified as John Sanders of Jamson Labs & Power Kleen Corporation) gave $12,000 to clear the layaway balances for 55 customers, according to Fox 13. “Our theory was if people had it on layaway, they were maybe struggling a little bit for the holidays,” Sanders says.
MORE: They Helped Him Enjoy Christmas When He Was Poor. Now He’s Helping Them.
The Consumerist notes that this touching trend kicked off in 2011 after a California man dropped $16,000 to pay off layaway balances for local families. This season, Secret Santas have also popped up in places such as Cleveland; Iowa City, Iowa; Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Chiefland, Fla. and nearby in Lake City, Fla.; where a generous donor paid a whopping $59,000 to clear 300 accounts at a local Walmart.
Even NFL player Tim Tebow is joining in on the good cheer. The Atlanta Journal Constitution writes that the quarterback teamed up with “Good Morning America” to surprise shoppers for a whole week.
“You don’t understand how hard I’ve been working,” Damara Jarrett said after Tebow paid off her $701 tab. “And then I said I was going to take stuff off [the account] because I can’t afford everything, and then this. Just thank you. I just want to cry.”
With the type of news that’s been dominating the headlines, it’s truly wonderful to see something positive that’s sweeping the country.
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Tag: Christmas donation
Watch This NFL Player Treat Deserving Kids to a Holiday Shopping Spree
A group of Houston kids saw their Christmas wishes come true earlier this December when football player Andre Johnson surprised them with his annual toy giveaway.
With a shopping cart and some Houston Texans cheerleaders for assistance, the kids were given 80 seconds (Johnson’s jersey number) to tear through a Toys “R” Us for whatever toy they wanted.
The athlete started his touching annual tradition in 2007 to spread some holiday cheer to local children. This year, the 11 deserving recipients were from the Harris County Department of Family Protective Services and ranged in ages 8 to 16.
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To top it off, as he explains in the video below, the kids didn’t need to worry about accessing a goody, such as an Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3, locked in a glass case since each one was going to receive whichever game system they wanted, plus a couple of games.
The final bill this year set Johnson back a cool $16,266.26. According to ESPN, his credit card company called him to make sure the purchase was legit (although they should probably come to expect the annual spending spree since he spent $17,352 last year and $19,000 the year before that).
“I just enjoy doing it,” Johnson tells the sports network. “… I always felt like if I was ever to make it, I wanted to give back. You go through stuff as a kid growing up. You understand certain situations. I understand some of the things these kids go through.”
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One 12-Year-Old’s Feet-First Mission to Help the Homeless
Henry Allen, 12, understands that there’s nothing worse than having cold feet in the winter. So for a school project, he started collecting shoes and socks for a local homeless shelter. One charity dodgeball tournament and 415 donated pairs of shoes later, Allen made a big difference to the neediest members of his community.