Supporting the service industry Group raising money for Yuba-sutter servers and bartenders
An effort led by a growing group of community members to support the local service industry has been gaining traction over the last few months, spreading both financial assistance and positivity throughout the Yuba-sutter area.
Amanda Gray-bonham, founder of Tipping YubaSutter Counties, said the group was formed as a way to support servers and bartenders in the community, as restaurants and bars have been some of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group first formed on Facebook last November.
Gray-bonham came across a similar social media page from Illinois where members shared stories about tipping servers $500. She put out an inquiry online to see if others would be interested in doing something similar locally, and after a few responses she decided to give it a shot.
“It just took off,” she said. “I couldn’t even imagine that it would turn out the way it has so quickly.”
Gray-bonham came from a background in the service industry.
She was a bartender in her 20s and remembers only making $7 an hour, largely living off of the tips she made during a shift. She has since taken a job outside the service industry, but she fully understands the struggles many in the community are experiencing at the moment.
“For people who haven’t been hurt as badly by the pandemic, us with jobs, we could come together and donate $10 a week to pool money and tip someone to make their day brighter, that was the idea behind this,” she said.
“The first week we raised $500, and the second week we raised $1,500.”
Support for the effort continues to grow by the week. To date, group members have raised more than $10,500 and tipped 21 different servers from different restaurants.
Gray-bonham developed a list of area restaurants with the help of group members, and the plan is to hit each restaurant and bar once as a way to spread out the tips before eventually doubling up.
Each week, group members donate tips to Gray-bonham through her Venmo, Cash App and Paypal accounts. She keeps a spreadsheet of all the tips that come in for accounting purposes. When someone donates, their name is added to the list of “secret tippers,” who are selected weekly and tasked with going to a restaurant or bar and tipping their server. Whichever server they get, they tip.
“I like the randomness of it,” Gray-bonham said. “It’s not necessarily about the service you receive that particular visit, but it’s about helping people who are struggling right now.”
Some weeks they receive $1,500 in donations.
Last week, they broke their own record with a total of $2,500 worth of tips. Donations so far have ranged from $1 to $300 – the largest tip came from a community member who wanted to give half of their recent stimulus check. The group has amassed over 2,500 members.
“What’s been really cool to see is people going to the group and sharing their great experiences with local restaurants and servers, instead of people just complaining. That was a big reason why I wanted to start something like this, I was starting to get a little depressed with everything going on in our country and on social media,” Gray-bonham said. “The positivity is amazing, and I’ve heard from a lot of people that they come to the group daily to get some positive influence.”
Gray-bonham started buying Starbucks cards to reward members for donating through weekly giveaways. Some local businesses, like Rolling Stone Pizza, have also pitched in by donating goods and services to the group as a way to reward those that donate.
As the group continues to grow and raise money, Gray-bonham said the hope is to eventually begin including other industries that have been devastated by the ongoing pandemic, as well as individuals or families that are struggling.
“I’ll keep doing this as long as people keep donating,” she said. “I don’t see this coming year getting any easier for people, so we want to continue blessing people and helping them.”
For more information on how to get involved or donate, email tippingyubasutter@ gmail.com or visit the Facebook page by searching “Tipping Yuba-sutter Counties.” Gray-bonham said those that cannot donate can help by inviting others to the page or sharing the charitable message with their friends.