On this dreary eve of Christmas Eve, parents are pounding the aisles eyeing those toys that will put a smile on their kids’ faces come Christmas morning.
Little did Newport News dad Norman Beal know that a layaway angel was watching the whole time.
“I have three kids, two girls and one boy ,” says Beal.
We convinced him to go on camera saying we were doing a holiday shopping story.
He couldn't stop talking about his three young kids and the toys he was trying to get out of layaway for them.
“As a family, we try to do the best that we can to accommodate all three of them, evenly as best as possible,” says Beal.
We just couldn't hold the secret anymore.
“We want to be your layaway angel today and pay off your entire layaway bill for the holidays,” says NewsChannel 3’s Jessica Larche.
“Whoa! Wow! I appreciate that. Thank you so much. That's an amazing gift. I don't know what to say. It's been a tough year and thank you so much. That's all I can say from the bottom of my heart and my family. I appreciate that so much,” says Beal.
The Beal family got the holiday help they never saw coming.
Ronnie Toms is the store manager at a Denbigh Kmart in Newport News. He first allowed us to play layaway angel in his store two years ago for a local mother.
“So many people came in to pay off more layaways. They saw the story and they wanted to be a part of it. They were touched,” says Toms.
Toms says several layaway angels have taken care of 50 layaways just this holiday season.
We decided to add to another for nearly 300 bucks for a family we've yet to meet.
This family is now part of a family of those touched by layaway angels everywhere.
