Gayle Benson Pays Off Hundreds of Walmart Layaway Orders at Three Stores

New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson is playing Mrs. Claus again this holiday season by paying off hundreds of Walmart layaways at three different stores in Louisiana and Alabama.

Two of the stores are located in Louisiana -- one in Alexandria on Mall Drive and the other on Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans -- and the third in Birmingham, Alabama on Parkway East.

All total, Benson's donations helped out around 300 families: 122 families in New Orleans, 123 families in Alexandria and 30-40 families in Birmingham.

Cedric Towns, the manager of the Birmingham Walmart, told NOLA.com that he found out about Benson's gift on Tuesday.

"We needed some positivity to end 2020," Towns said. "We are definitely grateful for Ms. Benson for her contribution to our store and our community."

Alexandria Walmart manager Robert Scothorn shared Towns' sentiment.

"This is exactly what our community needs right now," Scothorn said. "Between COVID-19 this year and on top of that, the hurricane season, and just in general this year, we needed something like this to spread joy and bring back the holiday spirit."

Now, this is not the first time that Benson has played Secret Santa. In 2018, she paid off 408 orders at Walmart on Tchoupitoulas at a price tag of around $100,000.