Staff at a Whyte Avenue bar have found a way to share their good fortune with children in need.
On Thursday night some servers at Hudsons on Whyte were given a $1,000 tip but instead of taking it home they decided to pass it on.
Celeste Bouchard, who was working that night, said one of her customers commented about how much he enjoyed the service.
“The man came up to me and he was like ‘Can I use your debit machine?’
“He did it himself, typed in $1,000 and handed it back to me and I was just like ‘What? This is insane.’”
Bouchard and her co-workers were dividing the money up later than night when something didn’t feel right, she explained.
“I was like ‘It is just taking away the magic of what this man did for us.’ I was like ‘I think we should donate all of it.’
“So we just put it in an envelope and I sent a Facebook message to the staff that worked that night, just to let them know.
“They knew about the money so I wanted them to know where it was going.”
Bouchard and her co-workers took the money to the Stollery Children’s Hospital the next day.
“This man chose to do this and he was choosing to be so generous and I think it is important to pay it forward. I think it is important to make the world better and be nice.”
As a nursing student, Bouchard could have used the money but she said she did not even consider it.
“I am in so much debt but I don’t even think I actually thought about that I was just like ‘No. Not mine.’”
“I feel so special and honoured that someone would choose the Stollery,” the organization’s community initiatives co-ordinator Tannis Peterkin told CTV News.
“They went above and beyond. They didn’t keep that donation to help themselves.”
Peterkin said that the money donated by the public, including the funds from Hudsons’ staff, goes to enhance the care they give to over 210,000 kids each year.
“When people give donations it is not just to get the hospital running,” she explained.
“When they give a donation it goes above and beyond that. It is creating a level of excellence much greater then what we could have hoped for through the government funding.”
Hudsons general manager posted the story on his Facebook page and it was also shared on the bar’s Facebook site.
“It filled my heart to know that their simple act of kindness is going to have an impact on so many people and that they made a choice to help others before themselves,” Matt Glover wrote.
“I can tell you that the people I work with at Hudsons have the biggest hearts, are the most genuine, and most caring individuals I have ever had the honor of calling my friends.”
With files from Josh Skurnik
