Pay Away the Layaway pays off items for nearly 100 local families this holiday season

DAYTON — Families in the Miami Valley are finding out they have free Christmas gifts this year.

News Center 7 and nonprofit Pay Away the Layaway teamed up this Christmas season to pay off holiday layaway for local families.

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Around 80 local families were offered to stop by the Dayton Mall Burlington Coat Factory on Miamisburg Centerville Road for the last minute “surprise.”

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Taneka Walker, who just adopted a baby, planned to buy the presents she picked out. Instead, she walked out of the store without paying a cent.

“I wanted to do something special, it was important to me to make sure that his first Christmas is a big Christmas,” Walker said. “And I got here and she’s like ‘nope, it’s paid for.’ I’m like ‘oh my god!’”

Customer service manager, Latonya Fletcher, said with the money the company was able to cover about 100 families’ layaways.

“It actually warms my heart, because a lot of people struggle to get their layaways out,” Fletcher said.

This is the third time News Center 7 has partnered with the nonprofit. The New York-based organization has a connection to the Miami Valley and Chief Meteorologist McCall Vrydaghs, whose friend is the nonprofit’s founder.

Those who would like to donate to Pay Away the Layaway can click here.

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