Secret Santas pay strangers' layaway bills – WSOC TV

SHELBY, N.C. — Secret Santas are helping out some shoppers in Cleveland County.

Store managers are calling them “layaway angels.”

Terra's Ross daughters are happy because there are gifts under their Christmas tree.

“I get to open presents,” daughter Hannah Morris said.

They don't know about the real secret Santa who paid for the gifts.

“It was a true blessing for someone to decide to do this and not even know who they were doing it for,” Ross said.

Ross and her husband had put the gifts on layaway at the Walmart in Shelby. Money was tight, and they planned to use the money they had to pay for the gifts and not pay bills this month.

But that all changed when they went to pick up the presents.

“They asked us if we believed in Santa Claus and we said yes,” Ross said. “They said, ‘Good, because he's come to pay your layaway off and you owe us one penny.’”

The Shelby Kmart also had at least 15 layaway angels. Many of those gifts were about to be put back on the sales floor because customers hadn't paid in a while.

Managers said they've never seen anything like it.

“The other day, a lady paid a layaway off and went through the store handing $50 bills out,” assistant manager Chris Gaddy said.

“It's fantastic,” shopper Cathy Liverette said. “It's the best Christmas gift you can give people as tight as money is these days.”

No one knows why the secret Santas suddenly appeared, but they all want to remain anonymous.

WSOC