‘Layaway Angel’ Generously Picks Up Entire $16K Layaway Tab at California Kmart
- Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:11pm by
Billy Hallowell
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We’ve already told you about the “Secret Santas” around the nation who have been randomly going into stores and discretely paying off peoples’ debts. The chain of serial giving started earlier this month when a Plainfield, Michigan, woman went into a Kmart and paid off $500 worth of layaway bills for customers in need. She also donated a shopping cart full of toys to the store.
Now, another individual has picked up on the idea, as he recently dropped nearly $16,000 to pay off more than 1,000 peoples’ debts.
CBS News refers to the man, David Wilson, as a “Layaway Angel,“ rather than a ”Secret Santa” (after all, since we know the guy’s name, we can’t really dub his actions “secretive”). Wilson apparently spent the massive sum of money to help Kmart shoppers out in Laguna Beach, Calif. The not-so-mysterious man apparently called the local store up and asked the staff to tally the total for all items on layaway that cost under $100. Then, he paid the sum ($15, 919.61) off.
Wilson apparently inspired others to give at his local Kmart as well, as an additional $8,000 flowed in from donors who wish to make Christmas bright for their neighbors. Those individuals giving apparently didn’t appear to be wealthy either, proving that we can all do our part to help those in need this holiday season.
On Dec. 15, Glenn Beck talked about the original mystery woman who kicked off the spirit of layaway giving on his radio show and encouraged listeners to join in on the generosity.
During the segment, he shared a heart-felt story about his family‘s own experience filling a jar with money throughout the year and then putting it on a random family’s doorstop (check out “Christmas Jars” for more information on where this idea comes from).
“If there is a way for you to spend less this year on your family and more on others… If you don’t have the money, just pare back your Christmas in scale and replace it with something of real meaning and real tradition, it will be really, really well worth it,” Beck said, as he was clearly moved by the woman’s story.
The chain reaction of giving continues to inspire individuals across America.
(H/T: Consumerist)
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tharpdevenport
Posted on December 24, 2011 at 11:35pmIsn’t K-Mart a part of Sears now? And I thought I read on The Blaze a week or two ago Sears might go under next year from low profits. MAybe this is some half-@$$ed attempt by K-Mart to encourage people to put things on Layaway.
Report Post »helpmyfamily
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 2:53pmHi my name is Norma I have 5 kids I have stuff on layaway at Kmart in riverside but can’t pay it off I just got my first check from work but it was only for 70.00 which is just a one night stay at the hotel foe us so we are not going to be able to get the stuff out of layway for our kids can you please help Norma Chavira 951-314-3079
Report Post »seldomscene
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 8:30pmThe people who had $102.00 on lay-a-way will sue him.
gemologist
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 8:47pmYes, lets all give money to people who want store bought toys for their children when they have no money, after all, isn‘t it more important to teach children that it’s about getting what we want for Christmas, not responsibility and making due. After all, we need to prepare them for the future country where people are so used to getting what they want that they will give up all their freedoms when they are told that it will get them what they want.
Report Post »Burger66
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 1:29pmWhat a great story. Nice to see people are doing these things even in a bad economy.
Report Post »alwayshappy
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 12:54pmWhat a warm, kind, generous and thoughtful gesture! It’s things like this that always make my holidays even more special. Thanks and God bless the individual for their generosity! They serve as a model and reminder to the rest of us.
Report Post »watashbuddyfriend
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 12:45pmI am What I Am Suppose To Be, so, I will not be able to pick up your layaway, so sorry!
Report Post »nospin2000
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 10:36am@ CaptMickeyd
Report Post »It’s not begrudge, it’s self pity. Would you begrudge me that?
conservativewoman
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 10:16amI read a lot of criticism of Californians by some people who post on the Blaze. They seem to think we are all liberals out here.
Report Post »I am a Catholic and many of my friends are Protestants, and we comment to each other about the fact that every Sunday our churches are full. All the churches have ministries to help the needy even though their congregations are not rich.
When my friends and I were in a Christian college together, we created charities with the help of our professors. I’m glad there is finally a positive story about Californians.
CatholicTexanGrandma
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 9:48amI think this is very heartwarming and what Christmas is about, spreading a little happiness to those who are struggling.
Several people have remarked that lay-away is equal to being a spendthrift. But actually it is the opposite. It’s a way to afford Christmas without going into debt. I’m sure that the people who did the lay-aways thought they could budget the money. But then things come up, hours get cut, the price of gas goes up (thanks Obama), it’s hotter or colder and the utility bills go up, the cost of food spikes (thanks Obama), a new EPA reg is passed and prices go up (thanks Obama), , the kids become ill and a doctor’s visit eats up the payment; so, in spite of good intentions that lay-away payment is gone,
Since the lay-away is a non-necessity, it’s the last payment made, but, who wants to disappoint children.?
I am thrilled that generous people have stepped up in this time of uncertainty to help those in need.
Report Post »nospin2000
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 9:22amI am on Social Security. I vote conservative. I realize that some day because of the help from my vote, I may lose the public assistance that helps maintain our family, our home, and our home schooling, but I know what is right and what is wrong for our country. So I can’t help being shorted when I read a story like this. We don’t have things on lay-away, because we know we can’t afford it. And I know I shouldn’t think this way, and most of the year I don’t, but around Christmas I can’t help myself. So here is my question. Is it not the same as bailing people out who made the wrong choice to buy a house when they know they really shouldn’t have bought one. We own our home, us and the bank, and we keep the payments up. And we do that by not over spending. So when people put stuff on Lay-away in a time when credit is killing our country, It just seems to me….or maybe I’m just jealous and I know I shouldn’t be.
We live in a real crappy old house. We bought it that way. I am one of the people who took out a loan for a home at the time when the lending laws where lax. We bought a crappy house because the payments where low enough that if I lost my job, it would be possible to keep the payments up on the house, and we do, although life would be so much easier if we didn’t have the monthly payments and we lived in government housing, but we don’t because we are conservative and we know right from wrong. So for give me for venting around Christmas, I just
Report Post »CaptMickeyd
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 9:30amPeople use lay a way to pay for things in small increments, and it is not, technically, credit, as you don’t walk away with the purchase until you have paid it off. So it‘s not really a bail out of people who can’t afford something, it‘s like paying for someone else’s Christmas. They aren’t paying off credit cards or anything. It’s charity, not a bail out. I also bought a house when the standards were lax, but I lost my home. It would have been nice to have been bailed out, but I don‘t begrudge these others charity just because it didn’t fall to me.
Report Post »nospin2000
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 10:33amIt’s not begrudge, it’s self pity. Would you begrudge me that?
Report Post »Cjinx79
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 6:59amGlenn,
Your message has been heard and you surely (yeah I hear you saying “don’t call me Shirley”) must recognize what your words have inspired people to do. God please bless you and your family this Christmas and please keep you all safe.
Keep the faith Brother!
Report Post »LovinUSA
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 5:05amGod bless these secret santas, I can only wish that I could be one, if I had the money, I surely would. What a wonderful way to show people and God you care. God Bless and MERRY CHRISTMAS !
Report Post »Kevin The Elder
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 5:42amYesterday, my daughter, and her out of work husband, were recipients of one of these gifts. She had laid away something for my granddaughter’s Christmas present, but even though it was only $50, she wasn’t going to be able to pay for it until after Christmas (she hadn’t told my wife or me, else we would have managed to do so). Yesterday, she received a call from K-Mart here in NJ saying that some unknown person had paid for the present. To paraphrase: My wife thanks you. My daughter thanks you. My son-in-law thanks you. And I thank you. Because of you, a beautiful little 3-year-old will get a wish fulfilled.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 6:25amOur church (every year that I’ve been a member) has an Angel tree…you write your name on it, along with the ages of your children, sizes everyone wears, etc. My husband had been out of work for 2 months due to a badly broken leg (with 2 surgeries). He’s been back to work and we are barely caught up, but we didn’t have enough money for each other to exchange gifts. We wanted to make sure the kids had a good Christmas. Someone put our names on the tree, and they dropped off cash the other day. We were able to get each other Christmas gifts. It made me cry. I know exactly how these people feel….so undeserving, but grateful.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 9:39amA local radio station suggested a way to make someone’s day a little brighter during the Christmas season. It’s called the drive-thru difference. It doesn’t take a lot of money (at least it shouldn’t…) but it could be just the thing an unsuspecting stranger might need to perk up his or her holiday. God bless!
http://www.spiritfm905.com/pages.asp?pageid=78127
Report Post »seldomscene
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 8:37pmYou probably have a lot more to give than you realize! God bless.
Report Post »ldaopines
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 2:14amIt’s probably a good idea not to do massive repeats of the same generous act because liberals can smell handout opportunities like AKC bloodhounds and exploit them. There are lots of opportunities for random acts though and some can be for free. For example, a hispanic woman today was looking for 4 table napkins in coffee color but there were only 2 left on the shelf. I heard her speak in Spanish to her husband about it (and understood even though I don’t speak it) and offered her the 4 coffee colored napkins in my hand because I really wanted another color that wasn’t there. She then actually went around the whole store and found 3 of my color on displays and brought them to me. She said in broken English, “I’m glad to help you“ and I laughed and said ”I’m glad to help you too”. Just a nice exchange. It was nice.
Report Post »NotPoliticallyCorrect
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 1:58amThat is the coolest thing evarrrr <3
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 4:26amIf only Obama could tax the rich the government could put a end to this kind of thing……
Report Post »RedneckJim
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 12:03amApparently Mr. Wilson is a conservative. At least that’s how it seems by some of his previous donations. What a heartless, evil man he must be!
Report Post »US_SOLDIER
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 12:22amPaying off peoples debt is good? How about we get back to the old days when you didnt have credit extended to you a thousand times in your lifetime and you only bought what you could afford to buy? I dont see the charity in all this stuff theyre making it out to be on the news. I see another fad emerging where its cool to go to big corporations stores and pay off peoples debt, thus feeding both the system and the peoples need for more debt
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 12:29amOh brother.. you two are unbearably negative.. Is it a fad… give me a break.. who would take 16,000 of their own money to do something nice for others.. apparently neither of you?? This is what I call the spirit of real Christmas.. I wish I could do the same… God bless these people.. who don’t think of self, but of others!
Report Post »Brooke Lorren
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 2:46amWhile I do agree with US soldier that it is better for people to pay for things outright and not try to buy things that you can’t afford (and I think about all the frugal people who don‘t put things on layaway that won’t be helped by this string of RAoKs), it is a very kind thing for people to do. I don‘t think that it’s right to tell other people what to do with their money. While this wouldn’t be my top choice in charity, I do think about how wonderful these people are going to feel being able to give their kids the holiday that they otherwise might have to wait until after Christmas to give them…
My family will be buying most of our Christmas gifts after the first of the year, because that’s when we get paid. I’m fortunate in that my parents will have nice gifts for us for Christmas, but if I did not have that, we would be exchanging Christmas gifts on January 3rd… I could imagine what it would be like to not have the money to buy gifts before Christmas, not have parents who could give the kids gifts for Christmas, and then find out that some kind person was able to make your Christmas a little better.
Report Post »CaptMickeyd
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 9:36amYou guys are obviously missing the point here. Lay-a-way is kind of like credit, but not really, because you cannot take the item home until you have paid for it. The people that had their bills paid were planning on paying for them themselves, and did NOT put them on credit cards so they would have to pay for them later. Lay-a-way is a way to pay for something in increments, BEFORE you can take it home. These are not bailouts. It is like sending money to the Salvation Army, or buying needy kids presents. Or giving at your local Toys for Tots. It IS NOT like paying off someone’s credit card for them.
Report Post »zorro
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 11:14amUS_Soilder…stand down. This is NOT “credit”. Items on layaway are held for you until you finish paying them. These people are not taking these items home and putting them on a credit card. Often times, layaway doesn’t even have interest. The people putting this stuff on layaway are doing the right thing. Putting a little aside each week so they can get the stuff they want.
Report Post »broker0101
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:47pmSince Glenn Beck is such a generous scrupulous person, he could have anonymously deposited money into all his listeners‘ commodity accounts to cover the losses they’ve suffered in the Gold market over the past four months due directly to his misrepresentation of Gold as a safe investment, including the exorbitant costs involved with buying and holding physical gold. Now That would have been a commendable act of morality.
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 12:08amwell, since a bunch of gold futures failed (mf global, etc) it would be down, it’s probably a good time to get some more before everyone (in the world) gets on the gold standard, which is inevitable for the simple fact that fiat currency has never succeeded.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 1:09amloss? what loss? if you bought it when he started to first talk about it when it was 300 an oz you would still be up
and if you were smart, you would be buying more while it is down a little
kinda makes you look like the fool here now doesnt it
Report Post »IMPEACH GEORGE SOROS!!
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 1:56amYou know this joker doesn’t have a single ounce of investment gold. He’s a troll..
Report Post »LovinUSA
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 5:19amApparently, you don’t understand the fact that no one twisted any ones arm to invest in gold. Glenn in his suggestion for gold also said; IF you can afford to invest, don’t buy it if you cannot afford it..
Report Post »caleejr
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 8:26amwow – Glenn has alot of clout being able to FORCE liberals to buy Gold. Amazing hypnotic powers to drive up the market so he can continue making the same amount of money from his advertiser. So, if a radio show or a TV show has an advertisement for GM, are they responsible for forcing people to buy a vehicle they can’t afford? Your argument is so full of holes here …..
regarding the story, Last year when Glenn was on Fox, he inspired me to pay for the grocery bill of the woman behind me – this was around Christmas time, and the woman (an elderly woman) was in complete shock! She had said she wasn’t sure how she was going to make it through the rest of the month – and the act of paying her bill was more of a blessing than I could have ever known.
Be a blessing to others whenever and wherever you can. It’s about service -
Report Post »wadajada
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 2:02pmMisrepresentation of the gold market???? Every single time Glenn Beck talks about gold he says “gold may not be for you please do your homework”…I think you need to grow up and take responsibility for your own actions!!!! If there is so much expense with owning gold then don’t buy it!!!!!
Report Post »broker0101
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:30pmAnd the donors are without a doubt Conservatives. No Liberal on Earth could or would do this without receiving full credit and associated benefits (political or otherwise).
Report Post »Restored One
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:51pmWhen I first heard of these stories a couple of weeks ago, I immediately remembered Glenn saying something of the like. It is wonderful and I wish that I could put a few bucks towards someones gifts…………HOWEVER, there are now Liberal radio stations telling people to do layaway and play it like the Lotto. Sick. There are always going to be crooks stealing from the less fortunate.
Report Post »Metalist
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:29pmIt’s so nice to see stories like this. Especially at this time of year, in this economy.
God Bless those people giving to strangers.
Report Post »Banter
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:27pmMost charitable and giving country in the world. The government needs to get out of the charity business, as only true givers make a difference (the government just steals your soul and dignity in return for their benevolence).
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 12:34amWe are the most charitable.. and it is that same charity that will pull us through!! Unfortunately we have a so called President who goes around the world telling everyone what saps we are… How many decades has the taxpayer been supporting its own.. we never really grumbled.. now these same people who have lived off welfare say we don’t do enough.. and that charitable feeling has just about disappeared.. and then along comes stories like this!! God help us!
Report Post »Profx72
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:25pmProving yet again that CHARITY doesn’t require (or desire) a Government Intervention! The only thing that would have been more inspiring is if it had been done anonymously. Kudos to David Wilson, though, for taking the initiative to do something nice without requiring a tax deduction to spur his efforts. America needs more people like him.
Report Post »http://www.MaverickVoice.com
Steelhead
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:25pmhow sweet . btw it’s just crap made in china
Report Post »barber2
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:50pmSad that you can’t give up your hate even for the holidays…
Report Post »AxelPhantom
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:25pmWonderful, keep it going!
Report Post »Workforit
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:22pmWhat a brilliant idea!
Even if you went back to the back counter and paid off just one layaway…
If that doesn’t make you feel like Christmas nothing will!
Report Post »magsdad
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 10:56amI heard about this the other day,…yesterday went into KMART in Anaheim…went to the back counter and asked if I could pay off someone’s lay-away…just $100, not 16 grand, but it did make me feel good.. They showed me a few accounts that were “late”…I have no idea what the items on layaway were or who I helped, but it was only $82.00 The person owed $82.25…they said they would call and have them come in and pay their account off for 25 cents. Pretty cool. The lady said that there were several folks doing this and that it was very much fun to call the people.
Report Post »bocajojo4
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:21pmVery nice but Laguna Beach, Ca.!…Now maybe South L.A…….
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:29pmYou have a point .
Report Post »Restored One
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:55pmI can’t believe that there is a Kmart in Laguna, but Thanks to the nice person. There are some good people in Cali.
Report Post »bocajojo4
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:18pmVery nice but Laguna Beach, Ca.? South Los Angeles, maybe…
Report Post »diablosho
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:25pmThose heathens in South Los Angeles already take our money. The people in Laguna Beach are the ones NOT getting handouts AND struggling.
Report Post »Brooke Lorren
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 3:03amMy husband grew up in South Los Angeles. His mom never took a handout from anybody, even though there were times when the three of them (mom, my husband, and his brother) only had one can of beans to share for dinner. She doesn’t live there now (she owns a home in Arizona), but they’re not all like that there.
Wait, I take that back. When my husband was a little kid, he received a scholarship to attend a Christian school (the school gave it to her, not the government). So I guess they did get a handout, but probably not the kind that you are talking about.
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