As a holiday surprise, New Jersey man pays off $10,000 worth of layaway items

(Image credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

published 28 November 2017

His name is Charlie, but to the people whose layaway orders he paid for, he's Santa.

On Friday, a man who identified himself as Charlie K. went to the Toys "R" Us in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to shop with his son, and while he was there paid for 62 layaway orders, totaling $10,780. He also purchased $2,000 worth of items to donate to Toys for Tots. "I'm trying to bring some happiness to people, to the community that brought happiness to me and my family," he told CBS Philadelphia. "I love this community and I am trying to provide back to it."

Charlie said this was the first time he'd ever done something like this, and while he wanted to pay off every layaway item in the store, the final price tag was more than he could afford. His generosity stunned customers like Stephanie Dawson, a grandmother who had seven toys worth $200 on layaway. "I want to say thank you very much and I appreciate it and thank God for you," she told CBS Philadelphia.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.