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Group Pays Off Families' Layaway Balances In Time For Christmas

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A group has made its mission to spread Christmas kindness this holiday season, and the group is doing it one layaway at a time.

As CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported, Landonia Walker called it a "miracle" when received an unexpected Christmas present on Sunday night – a phone call that her $75 layaway balance at K-Mart had been completely paid off.

"It's something that you see, and you hear about, but it never happens to you," Walker said. "And then when it happens to you, you're like, you're sort of numb," Walker said.

Now because of the Christmas miracle, Walker – who put four dolls on layaway – said her granddaughters will have the Christmas they deserve.

"I was thinking, who could have done it?" Walker said.

And she was not the only one. Other families in the Bronx this past weekend walked up to the registers and got the same surprise.

The angels behind the random acts of kindness come from an organization called "Pay Away the Layaway." The group collects donations and pays off layaway balances so families like Walker's are sure to have presents this Christmas.

"Often times we go in and we look for accounts that are close to being delinquent, and we pay off these accounts; surprise these families who often times don't have the money to finish paying these layaways," said Lydia Lugo of Pay Away the Layaway.

Walker was overjoyed by the act of generosity.

"That's worth a thousand; a million words; a million hugs; a million bucks; a million -- you know, to see your children happy," she said.

So far the group said it has raised $30,000 this year, and has helped more than 150 families across the country. But there is still much more to do before Christmas Eve.

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