'Secret Santa' Pays Off All Layaway Orders At South Jersey Walmart
MILLVILLE, N.J. (CBS) –Getting her two young children Christmas gifts they really want and can use was a priority for Jaquetta Maddox of Millville.
Earlier this year Maddox and her kids barely had any possessions after being evicted from their home.
So she put some gifts on layaway at her local Walmart and picked up extra hours at work so she could pay them off.
'Secret Santa' Pays For Layaway Orders At New Jersey Toys"R"Us
When she went to the store this past Saturday the attendant at the layaway counter had some shocking news.
"She was like 'you can put your money in your pocket cause somebody already paid for it' and when she said that we looked at each other cause this cannot be real," recalls Maddox.
But it was real.
An anonymous giver paid about $49,000 so more than 200 people could receive their layaway items for free.
"I call it a Christmas blessing, I never had anything like this happen to me," says Maddox.
Jessica Smith also has her items paid for. She tells CBS Philly that she and her family are thankful for the nice gesture and plan to pay it forward.
"I was going to cancel my order because we couldn't afford it. When they told me that I was in shock, at first my mouth dropped--I looked at my husband and cried," Jessica said. "We are so thankful. We just moved into a new house and my husband was laid off recently. This has been a tough holiday and now our 4-year-old old daughter will have a Christmas. I would love to thank whoever did this. It has helped so many because we weren't the only ones [going] to cancel our order when we were there....we will definitely pay it forward some way this holiday season."
Walmart confirmed the generous act to CBS Philly saying in a statement: "When customers quietly pay off others' layaway items, we're reminded how good people can be. The joy that comes from these transactions extends well beyond dollars and cents. We're honored to be a small part of these random acts of kindness."
