Some struggling families in Central Maine got a sweet surprise last week.

They all received a phone call from the Auburn Kmart's layaway department informing that an anonymous stranger had just paid off their bill.

"Everybody wants to go back to school with new clothes," said Store Manager Joyce Beane. "Now 16 more families (who had fallen behind on their payments) can do that."

One of the women whose bill was paid actually had bought items for a holiday drive benefitting needy families, so the ripples of kindness were going to spread outward even further.

(WATCH the video below or READ the story from WCSH-TV)