Server Bethany Provencher was treated to more than a celebrity encounter when “Blue Bloods” actor Donnie Wahlberg and his wife, Jenny McCarthy, showed up for breakfast at IHOP on New Year’s Day.
As it turned out, Jan. 1, 2020, was an auspicious date for Provencher. The 37-year-old single mom went home from the St. Charles, Illinois, eatery that day with a $2,020 tip in her pocket.
Hoping to inspire others, McCarthy posted a photo of the celerity couple’s $78.45 bill on Twitter, captioned: “@DonnieWahlberg starting 2020 off like the amazing man he is.” She then added the hashtag #2020tipchallenge in a bid to encourage further acts of kindness from similarly charitable people.
Wahlberg and McCarthy had treated their 17-year-old son Evan and a few of his friends to a pancake breakfast. Afterward, the ex-New Kids on the Block singer felt compelled to start the new year in epic style with a generous gift to the party’s server.
“He folded up the receipt and he gave it to me, and told me not to open it until he left,” Provencher regaled, speaking to People. “I said, ‘Okay, thank you guys, come again. I’ll take care of you again.' Then I opened it, and I almost fell to the floor.”
“I didn’t want to freak out at the table,” she admitted, “so I went into the bathroom and freaked out a little. I was like, ‘Oh my God!’”
Provencher, who has worked as a server for 25 years, claimed to have loved Donnie her whole life and was “a very big New Kids on the Block fan” as a child. As such, the gravity of Wahlberg’s gesture was amplified.
Provencher explained: “I just moved into an apartment, I’m a single mother, by myself with my son. So I struggle every day to make ends meet. And now I can buy furniture and put some money in the bank, and make sure my son is good.”
“God put him there for a reason for me, and I know that,” the IHOP server concluded. “It’s the greatest thing to ever happen in my life.”
Wahlberg is no stranger to generous tipping practices. Back in 2017, the actor left a $2,000 tip at a Waffle House in Charlotte, North Carolina; Wahlberg later shared a selfie with the overjoyed staff on his Instagram page.
“My mom waited tables, and my dad tended bars, for years,” Wahlberg posted. “So, when I walk into a #WaffleHouse, and the staff treats me like a king, you better believe I treat them like queens!”
Among others, writer Steve Garfield responded to the now-viral 2020 Tip Challenge hashtag by dropping a $20 bill into a Dunkin' Donuts tip jar. He later posted a picture on Twitter in order to further spread the word.
A couple dining at Thunder Bay River Restaurant in Alpena, Northeast Michigan, also gifted their server with a generous New Year tip of $2,020 on top of their $23.33 food bill.
Danielle Franzoni, a single mom who was homeless in 2018 due to struggles with substance abuse, told NBC News that she initially thought the tip was a joke. “I feel like I want to say everything from my heart,” Franzoni explained, “but this couple has no idea what they have done for my family ... [T]hey’ve changed my life, completely.”
According to CNN, Franzoni later paid it forward, tipping $20.20 on her own dinner bill in the very same week.
While the tips are truly inspiring some serious generosity, the 2020 Tip Challenge is not just about the money. Radio host Lisa Foxx, who tweeted about her tip of $20.20 at a Morton’s Steakhouse in California, also believes that the challenge could be honored in kindness.
Foxx suggested that tip-challenge supporters could donate 20 hours or 20 days of their time to a good cause, as per CNN, rather than giving money. “It shouldn’t cost anything to have a positive impact on someone’s life,” she said.
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