Customers at Albany’s Target store received an unexpected visit Wednesday from a couple distributing $100 bills.

This was the second time the mid-valley couple, whom Target officials declined to name, handed out the bills to families shopping at the department store.

The first was just before school started, said Target executive Julie Forrest.

“School shopping had been rough for them when they were younger, and they wanted to pay back the blessings they’d received,” said Forrest, who was on hand both times the couple visited.

On Wednesday, she said, the situation was similar. The man and woman said they were thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping and wanted to help mid-valley families with their holiday purchases. If shoppers said they didn’t need the help, Forrest said, the couple would ask if they knew someone who did.

“There were quite a few people blessed today with the gifts they brought,” Forrest said.

Kelly Hatch was one such customer. The stay-at-home mother of two was buying cold medicine about 11 a.m. when the two approached and asked if she could use some extra money for Christmas or Thanksgiving.

“I said, well, yeah,” Hatch recalled. “I was pretty much speechless. I just said thank you, and that was it.”

Hatch said she and her husband haven’t yet discussed how to use the money, but she hopes to help a friend from church who lost a family member.

“When somebody gives you something, it’s nice to give something away, too,” Hatch said. “If they (the couple) read this, I just want to tell them thank you.”