'Layaway Angels' paying off bills for strangers

PARAMUS, N.J. (WABC) -- People are getting a surprise at the store when they go to pay their layaway bills, only to find that they've already been paid.

"I'm very grateful, my kids will be too," said Steve Convertino, a holiday shopper.

Steve Convertino is going home with dozens of Christmas gifts for his kids.

Two months ago, the father of 6-year-old triplets put the toys on layaway.

He was paying the cost down little by little, but Monday someone paid it off for him.

"I ended up getting touched by an angel," Convertino said.

It is a chain of generosity that seems to be sweeping the country.

Anonymous donors, now known as "layaway angels", are walking in to stores and paying the bills of complete strangers.

From North Carolina, to California, Good Samaritans are coming through for others.

"He paid of everybody's layaways, everybody's," a store manager said.

Store managers like Kmart's Carol Laborde are seeing more cases like that in her store in Paramus.

"It makes you feel really great, people giving back to people," Laborde said.

56-year-old Retired NYPD Detective Kevin Dineen is giving back.

He just paid $180 of someone else's layaway bill.

"It feels good. It's the way I was raised by my parents, to give back," Dineen said.

"Layaway Angels" are giving back in a tough economy.

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