Colorado Springs ‘Layaway Angels’ Foot The Bill For Strangers
It’s a heartwarming trend this holiday season that’s spread to Colorado Springs. Strangers are paying off shoppers’ Christmas layaway bills at the city’s two Kmart stores.
Charlene Gerlock said she had to return a Christmas present just so she could afford to pay her $66 layaway balance for her husband’s gift. Turns out, she didn’t have to worry, thanks to a man she’d never met before.
“Once I got up there (in line), he said, “Don’t worry about your layaway, I’m paying for it,’ and he swiped his card,” recalled Gerlock. “I still can’t believe it.”
Gerlock said the man also paid for several other customers at the Palmer Park Boulevard store. She said she thanked him, but was too stunned to get his name.
“I was shocked ’cause I had never had anyone do anything for me like this,” said Gerlock.
The donors are popping up across the nation, and have been dubbed ‘layaway angels.’ Managers at the Palmer Park store and the Kmart on North Nevada Avenue said, in total, almost 30 layaway balances worth several thousand dollars have been paid off.
KRDO Newschannel 13 found one of those donors, a great-grandmother named Daryl Spencer. She spent $560 to pay off three accounts.
“It made me feel that at least their lives were made a little bit better,” said Spencer.
An employee told her two of the shoppers cried when they found out what she did.
“I think it made them happy, they can have Christmas,” Spencer said.
She said she was inspired when her granddaughter showed her a news article from another city, and now she wants to inspire others. She’s encouraging people to donate $20 towards a layaway account.
“Some people can afford more, but almost anyone can afford $20,” said Spencer. “Unless they have things on layaway they can’t get out.”
For those on the receiving end, Spencer has just one request.
“Pay it forward,” she said.
The Kmart on Nevada has a box of layaway balances that are about to expire.
Kmart is one of the few big box stores that offers layaway year round. According to other media reports, this trend is also happening at some Walmart and Target stores across the country.
