Santa came a little early this year. Only instead of sliding down the chimney, Santa walked up to the customer service desk at a Kmart in Michigan and payed off strangers lay-away tabs. Oh, and Santa just happened to be a woman.

A complete stranger -- described only as a woman in her thirties had taken care of the balance. She didn't leave her name and didn't want a thank you. The only writing on the receipt - "Happy Holidays from a friend."

Store employee Dannell Goddard was the only one to meet the mystery woman, and described her as very happy and excited to be able to help. The woman picked out 3 random tickets to pay for , with just one requirement...there had to be toys on the order. In total the mystery woman  happily spent right at $500 to fund Christmas for complete strangers.

She had a great heart and I told her that I felt like she had a great heart and she said she doesn't want to take appreciation for it," Goddard said. "She just felt that she was blessed and she wanted to bless others."

And it really did turn out to be a blessing to those families she helped. One woman had put a few toys on layaway and was hoping to be able to pay off the balance before Christmas. The store called her to tell her she only had $10 left to pay thanks to a secret Santa.

"This person is an angel for us," she said. "Even though we're all in the same boat, nobody's thinking about anyone else. It's every man for himself and to have somebody come along behind and just do something that's totally unnecessary but so appreciated, it just really made a difference.It's the best gift that I ever received and it's the gift of believing in people and believing that there's good out there cause you don't always see that," Chapin said.

When this story first got out it inspired other Secret Santa's wanting to give the same gift of hope. Later, someone else went to that Kmart and spent $2,000 to pay for 13 other lay aways. So whether Santa uses the Chimney or the door to a Kmart the magic is still the same :)

 

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