Because of the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of businesses that are considered non-essential have been ordered to shut down.
While this makes sense from a public health perspective, it’s bad news for the employees of these businesses.
But Jennifer Knox, the owner of The Sand Bar, a beach spot in Tybee Island, came up with an ingenious way to extend a helping hand to her employees. And the solution was right on the bar’s walls.
There are thousands of dollar bills stapled to the establishment’s walls, bills that patrons gave, and Knox decided to donate them to her employees.
“The Sand Bar is going to have a fresh new look while giving back at the same time!” she shared on Facebook in March. “We are taking down the dollar bills!! And donating all the money to our bartenders and musicians that need it!”
“Figure, we got money (on the walls), and we got time!!” she added. “So excited for this Labor of Love. And a good spring cleaning!!”
Five volunteers worked for nearly four days with Knox to pull down bills worth $3,714. She had also been collecting Venmo donations which amounted to an additional $390 and brought the total to $4,104.
This meant that Knox was able to give her four bartenders and two musicians $600 each, she told CNN.
The effort also helped freshen up the bar as the walls were now clean and coated with a fresh layer of paint.
Knox acquired The Sand Bar six years ago although the practice of patrons stapling signed dollar bills on the bar’s ceiling and walls goes back almost 15 years to when the establishment first opened.
And although removing those bills means taking away a part of the place’s history, Knox said it was inconceivable for her to do nothing amid the crisis.
“We looked around and we were like ‘we have money on the walls and time on our hands’, and we just felt this sense of urgency to get these dollars down and into the hands of those who need it,” Knox said.
“To see something so amazing get even more amazing, it was so overwhelming and so emotional,” she added. “Times like this, you’re going to see the best in people right now, and that’s what’s going to get us through this time I think.”
The bills themselves were filled with patrons’ names or special dates like anniversaries or birthdays. There were some bills that came from other countries.
“Each one is a message of love and now we can give that love in return,” Knox’s mother, Pam Hessler, told WTOC-11.
Tybee Island is one of the most popular vacation destinations in Georgia but because of the stay-at-home orders, restaurants, and businesses, including The Sand Bar, have been forced to close.
The town has a population of roughly 3,000 and relies on tourism for its economy. Knox says she hopes the bar reopens once the crisis is over.
Replaced!