Dartmouth Target Secret Santas Spent the Weekend Gifting Shoppers

The Christmas spirit is in full bloom this year as shoppers are paying it forward this holiday season, as evidenced by what happened at the Target store in Dartmouth on Sunday.

Shoppers were randomly selected by "secret Santas" and gifted $50 gift cards to the store. After doing a little digging on Facebook, I was able to find out just who those generous people were: the staff from Gloria & Company and their families.

"We created our own 'Pay it Forward' in 2018," said Gloria Perperas, owner of Gloria & Company. "It was a really good year, so we thought it would be a great idea to lighten the load of those last-minute shoppers by gifting them Target gift cards. (Now) the event has taken on a life of its own."

Following the event, Perperas posted the following message to the company's Facebook page:

"My heart is full! Our Pay it Forward crew gifted over $1,000 in Target gift cards because of your generosity! Thank you to everyone who donated, bought raffle tickets and supported this project again this year! Special thanks to Kirby Borba, Keri Borba, Sarah Collier and her beautiful family, Kristen Ronnie Frates and their amazing family, Kristen Hathaway and her girls, Suzanne Dube, Mena Tavares, Karen Niles, Ryan and Tammy Perperas and all of our angels who made this possible! Thank you!"

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One by one, the Christmas crew walked the aisles of Target looking out for shoppers who could use a little pick-me-up from all the holiday stresses. Among those who were lucky enough to get a gift card was Kayla Clapp, who can't thank enough the generous man who gave her one of the gift cards.

"I just wanted to say thank you to the kind man at Target earlier who gifted us not one but two $50 gift cards," Clapp said. "He came over to us in the cereal aisle saying 'I know this is weird, but there are a few of us here paying it forward. Merry Christmas!' Confused, we thanked him and wished him a happy holiday as well. After he walked away I was looking at the gift cards and realized how much they were worth."

Gloria & Company's generous giving prompted Clapp to pay it forward as well.

"My husband Josh and I are still shock by this man’s generous gesture," Clapp said. "It’s one of those things you never expect to happen to you and when it does, you're left speechless. In return, as our way of paying it forward, we decided to donate to Toys for Tots."