Watch: Waiter Blessed with $1,000 Tip Thanks to Viral Challenge
Social media “challenges” are a mixed bag, ranging from ghastly to glorious.
But one of the newer ones, dubbed the “Venmo challenge,” is sowing joy instead of reaping ridicule.
As one Redditor shared, the point of the challenge is to “ask all your friends/followers on social media to send/donate whatever they can, even if it’s only 50 cents to your Venmo.
“Once you have a good amount, you go to a local restaurant and tip your server the amount raised,” the user posted. “People have done this and been able to tip their server $300-$800!!!!
“Servers are among the top lowest paid jobs out there, especially when not tipped right! So let’s do this! Let’s make someone’s day, or maybe even their lives!!”
Brian Murphy heard of the challenge, and dove in. A DJ with over 11,000 followers, Murphy soon accumulated a nice sum of $1,400 to bless unsuspecting restaurant staff with.
On Aug. 9, Murphy shared the result of the generous gesture after selecting a restaurant.
“Ok folks,” he wrote on Instagram. “Thank you to everybody who donated to the Venmo challenge.
“We chose Lucilles in Concord Ca. We had Peter as our server. They just opened back up last week and have been closed for the past three months.”
“I’m just so grateful.” #Concord waiter stunned to receive $1,000 tip as part of Venmo challenge. https://t.co/HIUNcyKRv0 pic.twitter.com/If2yg87rgB
— KPIX 5 (@KPIXtv) August 13, 2020
Peter Murray, their server, was gifted $1,000 and Kyle, their host, was given the remaining $400.
“It’s helped a lot, now I don’t have to worry about paying rent next month, so I have that set,” a grateful Murray told KPIX-TV. “And then I can put some money aside.”
“Words can’t describe for how grateful I am for what Brian, DJ Murph did for me, I’m just so grateful.”
Murphy told the news outlet that it “just feels really good,” and that he is “really appreciative of the following” that made the monetary blessing possible.
On his Facebook account, Murphy said that the news video left out what he considered to be his most important line.
“This is not about me, it’s about the effort of family, friends and community pulling together to help someone in this time,” he posted.
“Also Thank you Tiffany Rigsby from P2P Gym for the Idea.”
Shortly after, Murphy started “Venmo Challenge #2,” which received over $1,400 within the first 24 hours, and as of Aug. 14, $2,250.
He has been busy blessing other food service employees ever since.
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