Tears Flow When ‘Layaway Angels’ Surprise Parents
Pay Away the Layaway volunteer Chris Strub, right, hugs a mom who just learned that she’s one of 30 lucky parents whose back-to-school layaway balance has been paid off. (Photo: Baltimore Sun)
It’s not everyday that families pushing carts through their local big-box store suddenly begin dancing in the aisles and shedding joyful tears. But that’s what happened on August 15 in a Kmart in Baltimore, and these lucky families had good reason to rejoice.
They had just been informed that the layaway balances they’d racked up while buying back-to-school supplies would be paid off in full — courtesy of a non-profit dedicated to covering layaway payments for struggling households.
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It’s part of an initiative called “Layaway for Learning,” launched this year by Pay Away the Layaway, an organization that sends volunteer “layaway angels” to stores like Kmart and Toys “R” Us. There, they pay off the balances for parents who rely on layaway policies to afford things for their kids.
These are some of the lucky moms and kids who no longer have to worry about affording back-to-school supplies. (Photo: Baltimore Sun)
Lee Karchawer, 31, an ad-sales exec in New York City, started Pay Away the Layaway after reading about a donor who walked into a Toys “R” Us one day and paid off $20,000 in layaway bills for total strangers.
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“That generosity amazed me,” Karchawer tells Yahoo Parenting. “So I thought, why not create a website where people can contribute small amounts, like $5 or $10, and then use the donations to do the same thing?”
During the 2014 holiday season, Pay Away the Layaway received about $50,000 in donations, which they used to settle balances nationwide. “People who use layaway earn about 15 percent less than those who don’t, and our goal is to select stores that serve lower-income people so we help those in need,” says Karchawer.
Volunteer Chris Strub makes this mom smile. (Photo: Baltimore Sun)
Baltimore was selected by the group’s board of directors because the city took a big economic hit after the riots in April. The Kmart store wasn’t targeted by rioters, but the company feared that it would be and had it boarded up as a precaution.
“We wanted to bring a sense of hope there — we can’t change things in a big way but it’s a step in the right direction,” he says.
Once the store was chosen, board members, all of whom are volunteers, worked with the manager to select about 30 families, each of whom had an average layaway balance of about $100.
“We called the families the night before and told them that because they had back-to-school items on their layaway plan, they were eligible for a raffle tomorrow morning to have the whole thing paid off,” Mark Weatherby, store manager, tells Yahoo Parenting.
“That brought them in, and then at about 10am we announced that they were all covered — they began jumping and screaming, they were so happy,” he says. Two volunteer “layaway angels” were on hand to assist the families and actually pay the balances.
Karchawer wasn’t at the Baltimore store when the families got the good news, but he visits other stores and has seen the incredible reaction from relieved parents. “I’ve seen everything from bawling and hugging to breaking into song and dance. I can’t put the feeling into words how good it feels to see their happiness,” he says.
“We’re in a time where it’s harder for the middle class to afford necessities for their kids, with widening income inequality,” he adds. “We can help in a small way.”
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