Secret Santa pays off layaway items at Nashville Walmart

A secret Santa paid off tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of layaway items at the Walmart in Nashville.

One woman, who did not want to be identified, said the act of generosity has made her emotional.

"Again, I'm probably going to cry," she said. "My husband passed away five years ago and it's been tight trying to buy Christmas presents."

A few months ago, she put something special for her son on layaway and on Dec. 10, she went to go pay off the remaining balance.

Using her last paycheck before Christmas, she would have had to pay $535 to get the gift.

"I was actually going to let my mortgage fall behind so I could pick it up," she said.

And when she went to pick it up, she has no balance to pay.

"They just handed it to me," she said. "I cried. Definitely cried. I was like, I wish I knew who it was, so we could at least say how grateful we are."

Walmart has not confirmed the amount that was paid off, but some employees told WRAL News it was more than $40,000.

"Christmas can be a hardship you know. You want to do good things for your kids and stuff and that's always a struggle to come up with the extra money for Christmas," she said.

Employees told WRAL the donor is someone local, but that the person wants to remain anonymous.