When we receive quality customer service, we feel more inclined to give our server or cashier a good tip. Tipping is not only a significant source of income for many restaurant workers, but it encourages employees in this industry to keep up the good service.
Danielle Franzoni, a server at the Thunder Bay River Restaurant in Alpena, Michigan, had no idea that she’d be ringing in the New Year with the tip of a lifetime from a generous couple – $2,020 to be exact. The tab was just $23.33.
“Danielle, Happy New Year. 2020 tip challenge,” the anonymous couple wrote on the receipt.
Although Franzoni was instantly floored to see four digits off to the left of the decimal point that the couple handwrote on the receipt next to the “Tip” line, she admits she didn’t believe it at first: “I could feel myself get really weak… I thought it was a joke.”
Little did Franzoni know, the tip was legit, and she was a couple grand richer.
Just one year prior to her New Year tip, Franzoni was homeless and struggling with addiction. The single mom decided to move to Alpena solely to start a new life where she would get the recovery she required and get her feet back on the ground. Although she knew she was on the path to big life changes, she never expected the act of kindness she received.
“Didn’t know that there are people out who can look past that and come to look at me as a person and as a mom,” Franzoni says as she chokes back tears. “My life’s changing.”
Thanks to the tip, Franzoni was able to get her own place for her and her children that same week.
“I’m gonna build a future because of this. My kids have a future, and I have a home. It’s a really big deal… Things like this don’t happen to people like me,” she said to Alpena Times.
Not only is Franzoni endlessly grateful for the two-thousand dollars she received, but she was inspired by the generosity. So, she, too, decided to take part in the 2020 tip challenge. The challenge requires that a customer puts the current year in the tip amount, regardless of where the decimal point goes. Recently, Franzoni tipped a server $20.20 after dining.
“That was my ‘pay-it-forward.’ I couldn’t do the other one, [the $2,020],” she said.
Others are also inspired to partake in the 2020 tip challenge after discovering how life-altering it can be for people like Franzoni.
“I feel like I want to say everything from my heart, but this couple has no idea what they have done for my family,” she says.
Watch below to hear what Franzoni has to say in response to the tip during an interview with NBC News!
