A mysterious group of generous tippers, called Tips for Jesus, have been leaving huge gratuities across the country over the last three months.
This weekend, they came to Connecticut and left a $5,000 tip on a $112 bill at The Seagrape in Fairfield.
“Hard to beat the service at The Seagrape... Thanks Tremaine! #tipsforjesus #godbless #thumbsup,” the Instagram post says.
“They were normal guys, very, very nice. They asked us each for individual stuff here and there. He asked for his tab at the end of the night and if he could go somewhere privately to sign it,” said Ashley Latella, who is a bartender at the Seagrape.
The three men went to the back of the restaurant and into the kitchen, that's when they signed the receipt and handed it over.
“They were like 'Merry Christmas, look at the receipt.' I thought it said $500 and I said ‘thank you, thank you so much.’ I gave him a hug. He said ‘no, look at it again.’ $5,000 my face turned white!” said Carlos Carmo Jr., a manager at the restaurant.
The staff was overwhelmed.
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“I cried. It was really, really...obviously tears of joy. I cried because I'm very grateful someone would do such a kind thing,” said Latella.
Former PayPal executive Jack Selby is the man behind the "Tips for Jesus" generosity who has signed off on large tips from coast to coast.
The staff at the Seagrape wanted to pay forward their good fortune, so they took part of the money and bought toys for a local charity distributing gifts to kids for Christmas.
“The next day I needed to get to the toy store and really fulfill what I really, truly in my heart wanted to do and that was to get toys to donate to Al's Angels,” said Latella.
