SW Atlanta church pays off $10K worth of layaway gifts for Christmas
For nearly two dozen families, this holiday season had been a stressful one as they struggled to find the money to pay off their gifts on layaway.
However, that worry turned to joy after a church paid off $10,000 worth of layaway items at a southwest Atlanta Walmart.
Cascade United Methodist Church paid for 23 families’ held items Monday, the church’s senior pastor, Kevin Murriel, said in a video the church uploaded to Facebook.
“We've been called by God to be here, and we want to be a blessing for those in our community,” Murriel said. “... Everyone deserves a good Christmas.”
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We are blessed to be a blessing! We have paid $10,000 worth of layaways off at our local Wal-Mart for 23 families this...
Posted by Cascade United Methodist Church on Monday, December 9, 2019
For one mother, the church’s generosity meant more than she could put into words, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Suhwanda McCreary told the news station her 28-year-old son, Justin McCreary, was killed in a traffic accident in Mobile, Ala., earlier this year.
“I used to take him shopping every year for his children for Christmas,” she told the news station. “He left three kids behind.”
Her son died in April after he drove a Jeep off an interstate exit ramp onto railroad tracks shortly before a train hit his vehicle, according to local media reports.
Justin McCreary was ejected from the Jeep and killed, while two other men died during the collision with the train, news station WALA-TV reported. A fourth passenger survived the incident with serious injuries.
His mother told Channel 2 that shopping alone this year had been taxing — both emotionally and financially — without her son.
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“It’s a tremendous help because I really wasn’t able to do it, because sometimes I would borrow money,” Suhwanda McCreary told the news station. “(This) meant a whole lot to me.”
Another woman, Laurel Sessions, told Channel 2 that the church’s giving spirit means her grandchildren will be able to receive gifts she otherwise wouldn’t of been able to afford.
“It helps me to be able to pay a bill that I didn’t have the money for that I needed,” Sessions said. “It just came right at the right time.”
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After paying for the group’s gifts, the senior pastor only asked for one thing in return for his church’s donation.
“All we ask is that in some point in your life that you pay it forward — that you would bless someone else,” Murriel said.
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About the Author
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
