MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. — Imagine being a server and getting a $1,000 tip one day at work. One Muscle Shoals Facebook group is making moments like this happen. Our Sydney Stallworth met up with it’s creator and talked about how spreading a little kindness during these crazy times can help change lives.
We spoke with Stephanie Stern, the creator of the "Tipping the Shoals” Facebook Group. She says, “Once it got off the ground… it just-- it went viral.”
The page is used to collect donations and surprise unsuspecting servers with hefty tips during the pandemic. Stern tells our reporter, “Me and my husband just talk about it and we pick a place to go eat… whether it be in Muscle Shoals, Rogersville, Florence-- anywhere in the shoals area. Once we pick that place to go eat, we don’t pick a certain person to get it. I fully believe that God prepares that person and we get that person because it’s God’s will.”
Stephanie says helping people financially during the pandemic is a cause close to her heart. She adds, “I’m actually unemployed right now. I lost my job because of COVID.” But, she says she could’ve never expected losing her job would lead her to blessing others using this page.
She said the page was off to a slow start during the first week of activity. But, the videos of people receiving the tips have been shared hundreds of times and now over 1,000 people are members of the group. Stern says some members give consistently, even if they’re struggling themselves. She tells our reporter, “We actually have one person who is on the page who actually was recently in the hospital with COVID. She has actually given every week and been so faithful.”
Stern says, "‘it’s only up from here" with the “Tipping the Shoals” page. She adds, “We plan to venture out. We plan to go to fast food restaurants, and hairdressers, and door dash delivery drivers, you know? The sky’s the limit.. It’s a God thing. We just try to bless as many as we can.”
