CLOVIS, Calif. (KMPH) -
It's a Christmas miracle for hundreds of Valley families - their layaway balances paid off by a stranger.
And the spirit of giving was still in full force this Christmas Eve.
At the Kmart in Clovis, layaway angels have paid off tens of thousands of dollars for strangers.
"We've been really busy these past four weeks, altogether we've had at least $55,000 paid off on layaway accounts. Over 250 layaways have been taken care of for customers," said Dahne Fraker, a manager at the Clovis Kmart.
The giving kept up until the last minute - on Christmas Eve, at least 10 more people found out their layaway balance was taken care of.
"To tell them they have a 74 cent balance, or a penny balance, you get emotional. And to have a customer start bawling in front of you...it's an emotional thing to see how this affects the community," said Fraker.
Kmart workers say many angels pick out specific layaways they want to pay off, making their good deed more personal.
"Here they're seeing that it affects people in their community, so they're more willing to step up and take care of people," said Fraker.
Even those who weren't fortunate enough to have their layaways paid for, say they felt warm and fuzzy inside, knowing that people in their hometown want to help each other out.
"Our economy is pretty bad right now so any time a family can get an angel to pay off their layaway, that's wonderful, that's a blessing," said Christina Mohammed, a Kmart shopper.
"Right now with the recession, it helps out so much. If you find out somebody paid for your stuff you're just going to be so happy, so that's really neat," said Jessica Lopez, a Kmart shopper.
This random act of kindness is happening all over the country.
According to some reports, more than 1,000 layaway accounts adding up to more than $400,000 have been paid off by layaway angels at Kmart alone.
