A Walmart $50K layaway was paid off in New Jersey, and another in Pennsylvania, by some secret Santas, stunning struggling families who had wondered how they could pay those bills before Christmas, according to media accounts.
On Saturday, a person paid $49,000 toward layaway items covering 223 people, Millville, New Jersey, Walmart store manager Rosie Kaur told the Vineland Daily Journal. Rumors had swirled locally that Millville native and Los Angeles Angels baseball star Mike Trout was involved, but Kaur refuted it.
"Only me, I'm the only one who knows," Kaur told the newspaper of the Secret Santa's identity. "He's a local businessman, a very nice person. The customers were so grateful that someone wanted to do that."
A Secret Santa struck at the Walmart in Everett, Pennsylvania, paying out $40,000 for layaway items for another 200 families, store staff said, according to WJAC-TV.
A tearful Kristen Martin told WJAC-TV that generosity means more to her because she was able to actually provide a Christmas for her children.
"I couldn't wait to get to Walmart," Martin said about learning that her layaway had been paid by a person known only as "Santa B." "I was like driving and shaking. Look at me, I'm shaking. It's crazy.
"I think it means more to me, but I think they'll be happy. I remember when I was growing up for Christmas. I was just telling my mom the other day that I want my kids to have Christmas like that," Martin added.
Vineland's Kimberly Green was one of the beneficiaries at Millville, who saw the Secret Santa pay $713 on a layaway order, the Daily Journal stated.
"It's the nicest thing that's ever happened to me," Green said, per the Daily Journal. "You see all these stories like this, and you don't expect it to happen in Vineland or Millville. It's just really uplifting.
"I told my daughter to call somebody, text somebody, because they're lying. When I found out it was true, I was like, 'Wow,'" she added.
The newspaper wrote that in November, a Secret Santa, identified as "Charlie K," paid off 62 layaways totaling $10,780 at a Toys "R" Us in nearby Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Green told the Daily Journal that she would like to somehow return the goodwill.
"I'm shopping for nine grandkids and wasn't going to be able to get them some of the stuff until after Christmas," Green told the newspaper. "I'm going to pay it forward somehow. I'm going to do something. Maybe cook a turkey dinner for people who need it."
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