Christmas comes early for Middle Georgia families helped by Layaway Santa
Layaway Santa, a group of people who pay off layaway lists in Middle Georgia stores, never meets the people they help.
“We never meet these families. We never know what the direct impact is going to be personally,” said Chris Floore, a member of Layaway Santa.
They simply pay off the lists and leave the store. But this year was different.
When Floore, John Roberts and Mindy Hart went to the Robins Main Exchange on Robins Air Force Base on Thursday, they were greeted by three people whose lists were chosen by the store to get paid off.
Ingrid Floyd, retired military, said she bought her grandson a Playstation 4 because she tries to help his mother as much as she can.
“This was really special, and I know he’ll appreciate it,” she said. “It’s nice to know that people are out there that really care and are doing stuff to help other people out when they can.”
Layaway Santa has paid off layaway lists for seven years and has been going to the base for the past three years, Floore said.
The group has raised more than $32,000 over the last six years, and they are hoping to raise $7,000 this year. Floore said they paid off 14 lists at the base for a total of $2,503.79, and that covered every list the base had available.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure that children have gifts to open on Christmas morning, and their parents don’t have to worry about how they’re going to pay for it,” Floore said. “We want to relieve that financial stress and make sure everyone has a Merry Christmas.”
Layaway Santa generates funds through donations from the community through their GoFundMe page, donation boxes and other fundraising events at local businesses, Floore said.
After the funds are raised, the group calls stores in Middle Georgia to see who has layaway lists. Then they go to the store, pay the list and leave. Floore said the store will call the recipients to let them know their items have been paid for, and they can pick up their gifts.
“There’s a lot of people who put layaway on for Christmas, and it’s great that people are able to come in and surprise them and pay it off and make their Christmas great,” said Angela Sakhnini, main store manager for the base exchange. “I believe that’s what Christmas is all about.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 10:36 AM.