SOMERSET, Ky. (LEX 18) — An anonymous gift-giver is spreading Christmas cheer in Somerset by paying the remainder of shoppers' Christmas layaways at Roses.
Jeremy Grundy, a father of six children under the age of 10, discovered his remaining layaway balance of about $250 was paid for by a stranger. The same thing happened to him last year.
"I had paid two payments on both of them. I had two layaways. They were both a little over $200. And I still owed around $250 bucks on them," Grundy said.
Christmas shopping for a large family isn't cheap, so Grundy uses layaway at Roses in Somerset to help spread out the payments.
"That was some of their Christmas presents, we got a lot of clothes too there," Grundy said. "Layaway helps us a lot."
He suspects this year's secret Santa is the same person from last year. A store employee told him the anonymous stranger paid more than $2,500 worth of layaway orders just in time for Christmas.
Last year, Grundy was able to thank the stranger over the phone.
"...I just told him that I appreciated it and he didn't have to do all that. You know? He just said Merry Christmas. I asked who it was and he told me, just a stranger," Grundy said.
Grundy said that he and his wife work hard to provide for their family, and the generous act means everything to them.
"I really, really do appreciate it a ton. Not many people will go out of their way to help people anymore and...it's a blessing honestly. I really do appreciate it." Grundy said.
