When a hard-working waiter was left a homophobic comment instead of a tip, hundreds of strangers made up for the nasty snub by gifting him a staggering $4,500.
At a restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin, the waiter - who has remained anonymous - was confronted with a nasty note on a $142.95 bill despite having provided good service.
The note read: "Service was good but we don’t tip sinfull [sic] homosexuals."
So, Eric Salzwedel, co-founder of the non-profit Do Good Wisconsin, decided to make the server's day following the uncalled-for remark.
He told Yahoo Life that he first learned about the bill through a mutual friend and knew he had to do something to counteract the harm caused by the discriminatory act.
Taking to Facebook, Salzwedel, whose organization is known for carrying out acts of kindness, shared a snap of the original bill with the homophobic comment, alongside a newer bill for a $45.10 meal paid for by Salzwedel.
The newer bill offered a tip of $4,500 after 250 donors chipped in to give the server the tip he deserved.
He captioned the post: "To the folks who felt it was necessary to write this hateful note and not tip... don't worry me and about 250 others will cover the tip for you."
"This really upset me that someone would do something like this," Salzwedel told Channel 3000. "To go to the extent of saying it was good service, but because of their sexual orientation, they decided not to give them a tip."
So, Salzwedel set up a Venmo challenge and encouraged people to pitch in order to "show there is more love than hate in this world."
"Within 36 hours I had received $4,500 from folks sending an extra tip for $5, $10, $20+ from across the country," he added.
Salzwedel had dinner at the restaurant simply so that he could hand the waiter, specifically requested by him, the generous tip.
He added: "We were able to surprise the server with the tip and to let them know that people love them for who they are and to not listen to those who just want to spread hate onto others. As you may expect they were surprised from the tip and extremely grateful."
