Christmas came early at Walmart on State Road. Wareham local Carolyn L. Pierce was paying for her haul of Thanksgiving turkeys and stocking stuffers when a stranger went out of his way to pay her $355.99 grocery bill.

Pierce was in Dartmouth on Friday, Nov. 20 for a doctor’s appointment when she decided to tackle her shopping in one go.

After an hour and a half of shopping, Pierce was at the register to pay for a Thanksgiving “small meal” to feed 11 people. She was rummaging for her wallet when the person behind her leaned over and swiped his credit card.

Pierce was in complete shock, and even the cashier was surprised by the stranger’s generosity. When she asked him for his name, he said “Dillon” but would not disclose anything else about himself. Pierce described him as a young man aged 25 to 30.

“I would just say thank you for your generosity,” Pierce said.

Even if they don’t meet again, Pierce has plans to keep paying it forward.

“I don’t know how I’m going to do it yet, but I’m definitely going to,” Pierce said.

According to store manager Jennifer Martin, kind actions like this aren't unusual during this time of year. Some people will purchase items like turkeys and canned goods and leave them for the store to donate to local food banks. Others will come and select holiday layaway bundles made by other customers and pay off their balance.

"Last year, we had one woman who was actually coming in to cancel her layaway because she couldn't afford to pick it up, and she happened to be one of the people who had been randomly selected by a customer," Martin said. "She was in tears. It was a great gesture."

"The holidays really bring out the good in people," Martin added. "It doesn't always get talked about, but we definitely see it."