Wal-Mart customers shocked as secret donors pay off $486,000 in layaway tabs
Anonymous donors are paying off hundreds of thousands of dollars in layaway balances at Walmart.
%shareLinks-quote="Customers were floored when they came to the Northeast Ohio stores to find their layaway items were covered." type="spreadWord"%
One donor wrote checks on Tuesday to completely pay off the layaway tabs at two Cleveland, Ohio stores, ABC 5 reports. The check at one store came to nearly $70,000, and the other check totaled $36,000.
A second donor paid the $180,000 tabs at two Pennsylvania stores on Monday, and a third paid off $200,000 at two Florida stores.
"I just cried," customer Cathie Cromwell said of the gift in an interview with ABC 5. "It's amazing someone would have this much compassion during the Christmas season to help us. To help people who maybe wouldn't have had Christmas."
%shareLinks-quote="It's amazing someone would have this much compassion during the Christmas season to help us. To help people who maybe wouldn't have had Christmas." type="quote" author="Cathie Cromwell " authordesc="Wal-Mart customer" isquoteoftheday="false"%
Both donors told the Walmart stores that they wanted to remain anonymous.
Walmart customer Penny Geedy told WCHS TV that she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to pay off her layaway presents this year.
"It's great to see this," Geedy said. "I was worried if I was going to get all my checks in time to pick up the presents."
"Christmas is a time of year when many people go above and beyond to give back to their neighbors and communities," Walmart Spokesperson Wyatt Jefferies said. "When customers anonymously pay off others' layaway items we're reminded of the amazing things people will do to support each other. We're proud to be a small part of these random acts of kindness."
More from Business Insider:
Lululemon's founder reveals that he considered buying Under Armour
The biggest security mistakes people make when buying things online
Police kill a man who they say brought 2 handguns and a machete into a Walmart and threatened customers
