Making miracles happen! An anonymous woman walked into a Bellingham, Mass. Toys "R" Us store, and paid off the layaway balances of 154 people, covering more than $20,000 in merchandise.
According to Boston's Fox affiliate station, the unidentified woman walked into the store at around noon on Wednesday, Dec. 10, saying she wanted to pay off a layaway balance. When the cashier asked about the specific account, the stranger simply replied: "All of them."
The total account balance across the board? $20,000.
"I have no words," Diane Brewer, a recipient of the grand holiday gesture, told the station. Brewer explained how she intended to work extra shifts to help cover the cost of presents she had picked out for her son. "I can't believe someone would do that, it's so nice," she gushed. "I have been running around all week picking up layaways everywhere, so this is really awesome."
Another person inside the store remarked: "I'm so happy about it I cried a little."
Many families across the country — not only in the New England town — find comfort in the fact that these "layaway angels" exist. A non-profit called Pay Away the Layaway, which uses online donations to fund existing layaways at stores, came to a low-income neighborhood in the Bronx on Wednesday morning, which was reported by the Today show.
Wearing Layaway Angel T-shirts, the non-profit's team walked up to shoppers to tell them they were there to help this holiday season. "We're here to surprise you today by paying off the remaining balances on your layaway," the company's founder Lee Karchawer told random customers.
Then came the floodgates of gratitude. "It couldn't come at a better time. I just had a fire and lost everything," a teacher named Stacey Heyward said as she cried and embraced Karchawer. With the help of donations, his team used cards to pay off $200 of the remaining balance of Heyward's balance.
Watch the sweet video above!
