Ellen DeGeneres believes that a good person deserves to be rewarded as she gives $10,000 and a flat TV to a waitress who paid for the $30 tab of the two soldiers affected by the government shutdown.
Sarah Hoidahl, 22, a Henniker waitress, became an overnight sensation after doing an act of generosity to two National Guard soldiers furloughed as a result of the government shutdown. Eventually, it earned her invitation to Ellen’s show.
Hoidahl is a single mother who stays with her mom and her 16-month-old baby Ashton. They share a house with two rooms and no TV. Since she didn’t have a car, she has to make bum rides to get to Ruby Tuesday where she works as a bartender and a waitress.
At the early part of this month, she volunteered to pay the $27.75 lunch bill of two women wearing camouflage uniforms after overhearing them talk about being furloughed. Her words, which she wrote on the back side of the bill, made the two women hug her with so much joy. She wrote: “Thanks to the gov. shutdown, the people like you that protect this country are not getting paid. However I still am. Lunch is on me.”
While Hoidahl never said a word about what she did to anyone else including her mother, somehow the world learned about it.
The two women told her boss of her good deed. Eventually, her boss told the story to the New Hampshire National Guard. Then, the Guard posted about the incident on its official Facebook page on October 10. This is where the media started to take notice and stories keep showing up in newspapers around the world.
From the newspapers, the story became an instant TV material when Hoidahl was invited to film in Los Angeles for an interview with Ellen DeGeneres. In the five-minute segment, Ellen first pulled out a small coin purse and handed her $27.75 while saying the words “I’m going to pay you back.” Then, she surprised Hoidahl with a 50-inch TV set and a mammoth check that reads $10,000, making Hoidahl burst happily in tears.
Hoidahl plans to use the money to pay off her student loans and medical bills. Part of it will also be donated to the Chaplain’s Emergency Relief Fund of the National Guard.
