His Joke About a Walmart Party Morphed Into Something Good

It started as a New Jersey man's sarcastic joke: A holiday party for Walmart employees this coming Friday at 5pm—self-checkout employees, that is. In the Facebook event Drew Delgado created, he provided a brief description of his Walmart Self-Checkout Christmas Party: "Celebrating another successful year of picking, paying, and bagging your own groceries while actual employees just stand around and check receipts." It apparently resonated, with 37,500 people marking they're "interested" and more than 6,000 RSVPing as "going." So Delgado, of Lacey Township, decided to turn it into an actual event—for good.

"While this started as a joke, it has me thinking," Delgado wrote on the Facebook event page, per the Guardian. "What if ... I was to organize a big toy drive where we have a Santa Claus and then we all purchase toys from the store, pile them outside and then donate them to whatever children happen to come to the store? I genuinely believe that something good can come from this. Times are tough for a lot of people. I think this would be perfect."

Gothamist reports that the designated Walmart in Lanoka Harbor reached out to say it did not want to host such an event, so Delgado arranged a stand-in: Lacey Elks Lodge in Forked River agreed to be a toy drop-off spot on Friday night. All donated toys will go to local charities. Delgado has also set up an Amazon wishlist for those who want to donate but can't be there in person. ABC7 reports Delgado hopes to turn it into an annual event. (More uplifting news stories.)