Meleney Bough Berry-Kriel saw the post about the Pep lay-by initiative and decided she would take part; she ended up helping a single mom with a 10-year-old son.
South Africa (01 February 2021) – Paying for someone’s lay-by leading up to the opening of schools was a concept that started going viral in January 2021. The idea is to visit a local Pep store (one of the very few retailers still providing lay-by options) and ask for a lay-by that contains school uniform and supplies.
You then pay for all or a portion of the lay-by. The customer is then notified their lay-by amount has been updated or paid in full. If it is paid in full, they are asked to come collect their items.
Meleney Bough Berry-Kriel had seen the post and decided she would take part in the initiative the next time she was at her local mall. That day finally arrived and she went to go pick a lay-by to pay off. What she never imagined, was the reaction the customer would have to her generosity.
The act was completely anonymous but Meleney stayed to listed to the phone call made by the Pep cashier. Take a read at how the emotional moment played out for both the single mother who was paying off her son’s uniform and for Meleney.
“I saw this (our post) and thought it was such a great idea. During this week, I was in a mall and walked into Pep at the spur of the moment, stood in line and asked if I could pay off someone‘ lay-by for school uniforms.
The cashier brought out a box and when she opened it, I already started crying. It was a school bag, a maroon school windbreaker, Bata school shoes and a few white vests for a boy aged 9-10.
I paid the outstanding amount and asked how they let the customer know. They told me they phone them and I asked if I could listen. The cashier spoke in the customer’s language, but I realized she was explaining it a few times and then she handed the phone to me, saying the customer wants to talk to me.
I took the phone trembling and crying and heard the voice of a very young mother. She thanked me repeatedly. All I could say was: „You blessed me more than I blessed you.“ I told her that I loved her, although I don’t know her and hung up.
You see, I was raised by a single Mom who had next to no support from my Dad, other than appearing at random times and long intervals and then showered us with inappropriate and non-essential gifts, to only disappear again.
My Mom worked at the Post Office and put all 4 of us through school by faith and love alone. There were times when the food ran out and we would find a box of groceries at our front door, placed there by some anonymous stranger.
So I can truly say I love this young mother, with a 10 year old boy, who has to lay-by school uniform at Pep, to make sure that when the school opens he is ready and taken care of. I love her because she is my Mom and I was that boy. Today, God made it possible to be the stranger who placed a box of groceries at our door and walked away.
There’s no greater blessing than to give. It’s the very pinnacle of human fulfillment.”
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