'Secret Santas' Making Christmas Brighter
By: Jamiese Price
Updated: December 12, 2012
Total strangers are helping make Christmas brighter for some families; 'Secret Santas have been paying off layaway's at local K-Mart stores.
At the southside store Friday one woman who wanted to remain anonymous paid for all the toys on someone's layaway.
In other cases, strangers are walking up to the layaway counter and asking to pay off layaway balances.
The only requirement was toys had to be included in the layaway ticket.
In an interview K-Mart Store Manager Sharon Wyatt, said some customers hyper-ventilate when they find out their layaways balances have been paid in full.
"They can't believe that somebody out of the goodness of their heart will help them. I've had a lot of people say why me, why me no one has helped me before? That's because they're here to help," described Wyatt.
Wyattt said the random acts of kindness started in 2011 and the people who helped were referred to as Secret Santa's. Last year the Santa's across the Wiregrass paid off $18,000 worth of layaways.
"I had a person come in pay a lady's layaway off which had $300 left on it. When I called her she was crying because she was at the pawn shop , pawning everything she could to pay for her kids Christmas, " said Wyatt.
