'Layaway angel' pays off purchases for local shoppers
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TIGARD, Ore. - Lisa Hynsen is a single mom with two young children who likely have big hopes for gifts this holiday season, especially since both kids' birthdays are close to Christmas.
On Wednesday, she received a surprise present of her own.
Like a lot of shoppers trying to lock in popular presents for their kids, Hynsen put some gifts on layaway at a local Toys-R-Us store back in September, with plans to pay them off and take them home before the holidays.
"Layaway is the only way I can do it," she said. "I have to plan it out."
Wednesday night, Hynsen said the Toys-R-Us store called to tell her an anonymous person had paid off the balance of $215. "Really? Is this a joke? Is this for real?" she recalls asking. "I was shocked!"
"And once the initial shock disappeared, I was, like, wow. I was so thankful," she said. "That's a huge gift to me. Huge gift."
She said the money earmarked for the gifts can now be used to buy clothes and shoes for her kids, ages 3 and 5. "It allows me a little more breathing room," she said.
And Hynsen wasn't alone in her good fortune. The general manager of the store said the person who paid for Hynsen's goods also picked up the tab for four other shoppers as well.
Each person had a balance owing of less than $500, the manager said.
Another benefactor called earlier in the week and paid off a few other layaway accounts, the manager told KATU News.
They put the names of layaway account holders in a hat and drew names at random to keep things fair, the manager said.
This happens every year. I'm going to roll the dice next year and do lay away to see if I get lucky.
So sad Hope and change that you have to be so negative,
What a priceless permanent  gift to give to yourself: the warm lovely feeling in your heart from giving to others!
Tis the season for giving~
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This happened to my nephew last year. He put a bunch of stuff on layaway and shortly afterwards, he was laid off his job. A layaway angel came in about a week later and paid it all off for him. Made for a very wonderful Christmas for him and his family when he thought it was going to be an unhappy holiday.
I've heard of people doing this last Christmas. It's really cool that someone could and would do that again this year and keep the tradition alive.
What a wonderful story. Sorry some people have to spoil it with their comments. Some people always have to find the misery in everything. I'm thrilled for those that received this wonderful gift from perfect strangers. I know those people will find ways to pass the spirit to someone else. Helping to spread kindness one good act at a time. And if the kids are beyond the 'Santa' years, I hope this mom tells them the story. This is so much better.
Now THAT is the true spirit of Christmas!
God bless them ..., God bless them ..., God bless them!!!!!!
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Great idea..! Â Â Kind of like the people you read about occasionally who pay for someone else's meal in a restaurant...or they pay for the stuff for the people in line behind them at the grocery store... Â :-)
What a wonderful way to show the true spirit of Christmas!
Very nice of somebody to pay off the balance.
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If you really have to plan out how to pay for Christmas gifts though maybe it is time to rethink what is important at Christmas.
 @2012 Hope and Change You are exactly what the voters rejected in the last election, you never seem to get do you ?
 @2012 Hope and Change Many people don't have the money to buy the gifts in September when items are still available. Instead, they put them in layaway and pay on them regularly. It used to be that people could save up over months and buy items closer to Christmas. Now items are gone by mid to late November, which means you have to buy earlier, before you have your money saved up.
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It is much more responsible to use layaway and pay for things with money you have than to just put them on credit cards and wonder later how you'll pay for them.
 @2012 Hope and Change Thank goodness she actually planned on how to pay for Christmas, instead of running up credit card debt and declaring bankruptcy!Â
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Not a great comment, at all.
 @2012 Hope and Change Your response is so ridiculous. She is a single mom doing the best she can, and all you have to say is, "IF YOU HAVE TO PLAN OUT CHRISTMAS GIFTS THAN MAYBE YOU SHOULD RETHINK CHRISTMAS". Wow really? The whole world is not as lucky as you seem to be. How do you re-think Christmas with a 3 and 5 year old? They don't understand re-thinking Christmas. How are you supposed to explain that. I am proud of this mom planing and making sure her two children have the best Christmas she can give them.  Shame on you, for your holier than thou response. Oh and food for thought she did know what was important for Christmas, it's making sure she planned ahead and made those two childrens Christmas special, and even more special because someone helped and did something nice. So have a Very Merry one Hope and Change. I am sure Santa wil leave cole in your stocking!!!
 @I hate selfish people @Jon   IHSF you put it very nicely and I agree whole heatedly with you.  I'm afraid 2012H&C has never learned the true meaning of Christmas.  It's very sad. Â
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Perhaps 2012H&C should visit a local Toys R Us and pick a couple of layaway's to pay, better still, how about going to a homeless shelter for battered women, and their young children, with a basket-full of clothing items and gifts.
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It has been our families Christmas tradition since our kids were small to pick a family in need and help them have a good Christmas. Â I got tired of hearing..."I want....I want....I want..." from my kids, so my wife and I decided to let our kids get a closer look at families with less than what we had. Â It worked very well, and I'm pleased to say, now my kids are grown with children of their own, they still follow our family tradition at Christmas time.
Single mom, low income, can't drop a bunch of cash at once. Sounds like a bunch of great reasons to teach her kids the real meaning of Chrismas. Instead she finds a way to load them up with crap from Toys R Us.Â
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Christmas isn't about Black Friday or who gets the latest video game. I'm guessing that is way over your head though.
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I don't count on or wait for Santa. If I want something I buy it. That is one of the benefits of being a responsible adult and managing your money.
 @2012 Hope and Change Is see your parents did not teach you to be kind, and FYI I don't do Blake Friday, hell I don't even expect anything on my Birthday, Christmas or Valentines day, just being with my family is enough. So don't asumme you know me or what I would do. You are a fool at it's best, shame on you!
 @2012 Hope and Change Ho Ho Ho dude, you sound like a real positive person to hang with! While your basic premise has some merit, your presentation makes me want to barf. I suspect I am not alone.
@2012 Hope and Change Don't know what your problem is. But stop raining on this women and other people's parade just trying to bring some happiness to there small children. I budget my christmas. And I am a well established success woman who knows how to manage my money and has the credit score to prove it. But managing what you buy for Christmas when you have 1,2 or several children is more responsibul then going out and blowing money which should go to bills. Stop being such a Grinch.
 @2012 Hope and Change She was being responsible she set a budget and stuck to it. Unlike so many others who purchase everything on the out right on credit. Shame on you and how ignorant to assume that you are so much wiser then she, there are many advantages to setting a budget for Christmas that even well off people would do well to take head of.
 @2012 Hope and Change It's said that, during the Great Depression, the penny candy makers did pretty good business.  Why?  Because parents would sacrifice a penny so their kids could have a treat and feel normal, in a world where everything was pretty bleak.
I applaud the folks using layaway to financially plan for these things, rather than the folks who sacrifice daily needs for the instant gratification. Â
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That's not to say it takes toys to make a Christmas, because it most certainly does not. Â But it's difficult to explain to a small child.Â
What a fantastic surprise! Proof that people with good hearts still exist.
Now that's a wonderful Christmas present! Merry Christmas to the benefactors who paid for these gifts for a great kids' Christmas!
This is the true meaning of Christmas for me. Â I'd much rather receive thanks and genuine expressions of joy when I give to others than to receive 'stuff'!