Jefferson’s Donates Dollars To Waitresses

Do you remember all those colorful dollars stuck everywhere inside the Summerville Jefferson’s Restaurant?
Most of them are gone. They’ve been donated to the waitresses to help them out during this coronavirus pandemic. Restaurants have been closed and waitresses aren’t getting the tips to support themselves.
Owner Beth Kingsolver decided to remove the colorful bills and donate most of them to the waitresses.
So how much money was stuck to the walls, ceilings, duct work, fans, etc.?
“We knew it was between $5,000 – $7,000,” Kingsolver said. “All the waitresses came in and took turns taking the dollars down.”
Kingsolver even ran an online competition asking people to guess how many dollars were plastered on the walls. The person closest to the final total won 50 free hot wings.
Resident Daniel Cordle won with his estimation.
“The final tally was $5,133,” Kingsolver said.
The restaurant workers, however, did not take all the dollars. They tried to keep some of the dollars that memorialized someone.
“The ones that were in honor of someone or said RIP, we tried to pull out,” Kingsolver said.
Those memorial dollars will go back onto the wall. The restaurant plans to recoat the walls with dollars once again.
“As soon as our dining room opens, we will have people making their dollars and turning them into the waitresses to hang up,” Kingsolver said.
The colorful dollars, however, presented a challenge. Technically they are considered defaced. Kingsolver said Regions Bank in Summerville worked with her on getting the dollars counted and replaced for the wait staff.
The restaurant also used part of the money to make a donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief fund.