After a customer left her a racist receipt with no tip, Red Lobster waitress Toni Christina Jenkins of Franklin, Tenn. received a collective $10K tip from online supporters who had started a fundraiser on her behalf, ABC News reports.
Jenkins was working her shift at Red Lobster when she was left with a surprisingly offensive receipt on the table, the "Tip" line reading "None" and the N-word written in the "Total" line on a $44.53 bill.
"I was just stunned that it happened," 19-year-old Jenkins told ABC News. "It's not something that you think in our generation would actually take place, so I was just blown away by it."
After she posted the receipt on Facebook on Sept. 10, her story soon went viral. When it got the attention of California resident Matthew Hanson, founder of AddictingInfo.org, it inspired him to start a fundraiser for Jenkins called "Tips for Toni."
"Tips for Toni" raised $10,749 in tips as compensation for the $44.53 bill, and when the check was presented to Jenkins by Hanson on Sept. 30, she was shocked, having been previously unaware of the fundraiser.
"I literally screamed. I was so confused," she said. "I was just so thankful. I felt so blessed and so honored that so many people came together on my behalf to give this to me."
After Red Lobster found out about how Jenkins had posted the guest receipt online, which goes against their company policy, they suspended her without pay, though she is currently back to work.
"We are disgusted by the language used on this guest check and it has no place in our restaurant or anywhere else," a Red Lobster representative said in a statement to ABC News. "We were in constant communication with [our server] throughout this situation and have extended her a high degree of respect and caring for what happened. No one should have to endure what our employee went through."
As for Hanson, he was happy to be able to make a difference in the young waitress's life.
"It was about sending a message to racists that Americans aren't going to tolerate that," Hanson said. "We raised $10,000 within seventy-two hours. It was really amazing."
While some online commenters questioned the legitimacy of Jenkin's receipt, she stood by her original post. "I was just trying to create awareness that racism is still taking place in this generation," she said. "For people who think it's fake, my heart goes out to them and I wish them the best."
Click here to see a photo of Jenkins and the racist receipt she received while waitressing.
