Touchdown! NFL star Khalil Mack, 28, pays off 350 layaway accounts at his hometown Walmart – spending more than $80,000 to complete the generous gesture
- Khalil Mack, 28, has paid off all holiday layaway accounts at the Walmart in his hometown of Fort Pierce, Florida
- Store management confirmed he made the donation through his Khalil Mack Foundation, and was hoping to keep the generous gesture ‘secret’
- Earlier this year, Mack donated cleats to the football team at his old high school in Fort Pierce
Chicago Bears linebacker Khalil Mack has helped brighten the holidays for hundreds of residents in his Florida hometown after paying off all layaway accounts at the local Walmart.
Mack, 28, paid more than $80,000 to pay off 350 open holiday accounts at the Fort Pierce franchise last week, according to TC Palm.
The store’s official Facebook page revealed the exciting news in a post shared last Friday, writing: ‘If you have an active Holiday Layaway account at your local Ft. Pierce Wal-Mart, your account has been paid off!’
The post continued: ‘We here at Walmart would like to thank the Khalil Mack Foundation for your generosity, and for making so many families happy for the holidays! Everyone is truly grateful for everything you have done for them!’
Mack made the donation through his Khalil Mack Foundation, which was set up several years ago to ‘positively affect the lives of intercity and under-privileged youth’.
Chicago Bears linebacker Khalil Mack has helped brighten the holidays for hundreds of residents in his Florida hometown after paying off all layaway accounts at the local Walmart
Mack paid more than $80,000 to pay off 350 open holiday accounts at the Fort Pierce franchise (pictured)
And according to Walmart’s store manager, he was not seeking to be publicly recognized for his generous gesture.
‘His foundation came to us and said he wanted to be a secret Santa,’ Mathias Libardi told TC Palm.
Mack’s gift of giving was met with applause on social media, with one woman writing: ‘You’re amazing! As a single mom years ago Kmart layaway was the only way to make Christmas happen! You have changed so many lives by this act of kindness – GOD Bless YOU.’
Another wrote: ‘God knows that several single parents , grandparents , newly weds and families that are just truly struggling had so much stress taken off their tired shoulders with this beautiful act of kindness.
‘You may have just given people faith when they were just about to give up which is PRICELESS.’
The news was announced last Friday on the store’s local Facebook page
Mack grew up in Fort Pierce, before attending the State University of New York at Buffalo.
He was drafted to the NFL in 2014 and spent four seasons with the Oakland Raiders before transferring to the Chicago Bears.
But despite moving across the country, Mack’s hometown is clearly still close to his heart.
Paying off the Walmart accounts isn’t the only gift he’s given to locals in Fort Pierce this year.
Back in June, donated cleats to the football team at his alma mater, Fort Pierce Westwood High, which earned him high praise from coaches and players alike.
Generous: Back in June, donated cleats to the football team at his alma mater, Fort Pierce Westwood High, which earned him high praise from coaches and players alike