When Rita Williams and her mom were eating at a packed IHOP, she couldn’t help but notice how hard their waitress was working – but that wasn’t the only thing that stuck out about her.
Despite being stretched thin, waitress Jazmine Castillo maintained an impressive level of professionalism and kindness. Rita wanted to show how much she appreciated her service, so she decided to tip her more than would be expected: $40 for a $30 meal.
“I gave her the $20, and she was like, ‘Are you serious?'” Rita said. “I handed her another $20, and she goes ‘No, really?'”
Blown away by Rita’s generosity, Jazmine thanked her multiple times, explaining why this tip meant so much to her, especially with all of the difficulties her family has been facing recently.
“I had a couple of bills overdue,” Jazmine said. “My mom is sick, she just got out of the hospital Thanksgiving Day. Her medicine and hospital bills — I can finally help with that. It’s hard.”
But Rita’s kind act didn’t end there. Moved by her story, she asked for Jazmine’s Cash App information. Later that day, she sent the hardworking waitress $500 before sharing her story on Facebook so that any of her friends who felt led to send her money could easily do so.
“She told me that she [was] ready to quit cause [she] can’t afford to Uber to work and pay for daycare for her daughter,” Rita wrote. “She wasn’t planning on coming to work cause she didn’t see the light and just couldn’t afford to but she came! She asked to hug me, told me she was gonna pray for me, and just kept saying ‘thank you, you don’t understand how much this helps me.'”
Twenty minutes after making that post, Jazmine’s phone started blowing up with Cash App notifications from people sending her money!
“I was bathing my baby, and I started hearing my phone go off,” Jazmine said. “I don’t usually get Cash App, so I didn’t recognize the ring tone, and it just got crazier and crazier and it didn’t stop from there. It didn’t stop and it hasn’t stopped.”
In just one week, Jazmine had received a life-changing total of $10,000, nearly fainting as the money kept rolling into her account.
As if this story couldn’t get any better, Rita’s wave of kindness just keeps going! Now friends, Jazmine has since texted Rita an update: as their story reached countless people across the country, kind patrons have continued what she started by tipping $100+ to other waitresses, too.
What started off as a single act of kindness to one waitress has turned into so much more, and it’s such a beautiful testament to the power each one of us has to have a positive impact in the world.
“Y’all didn’t have to do this for someone you don’t know,” Jazmine said. “I’m a stranger to everyone, and it means so much. Times are tough for everyone, and y’all didn’t have to do this. And you did so anyway. Thank you so much.”
Watch a clip of Ria and Jazmine below and don’t forget to share.
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