What would you do if you were handed $1,000?
Would you pay down your student loans? Put a little cushion in your bank account? Buy your kids some surprises? Start a college fund?
Anna Hofstetter thought about doing all of those. She even considered sharing it with her co-workers.
But instead, the single mother of two is giving it all to a cause she’s passionate about: Building the Kids on Wheels skate and teen park.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Hostetter, 30, received the money as a tip while she was serving at the Hotel Nashville on July 21.
It came from a couple who had gotten married at the hotel seven years ago. It was their anniversary, and they were having dinner at the same table in the bar where they’d sat on their wedding day, she said.
Nothing about them suggested that they’d drop that kind of money. “They were totally average looking,” she said. “The guy was wearing a Harley T-shirt.”
They ordered one Long Island iced tea each, then shared the crab artichoke dip and the dinner special. They complemented the drinks and the food, “and I said, ‘Thank you; I take pride in my work, so I appreciate that,’” she remembered.
The three began chatting about their lives. The couple asked her about her family, how many hours she worked, about her children, ages 3 and 5.
“I never, ever try to solicit tips for gaining sympathy about my life. I keep it super professional. But if people ask me questions, I’m going to answer them,” she said. “… I told them I have two other jobs — three jobs, two kids, one mom. They asked about their dad. … I told them that he pays child support; I’m way more fortunate than most people and I appreciate him for that. … Then a couple other people started coming in.”
The couple’s bill came to $32.40. When Hofstetter picked up the receipt, she was sure it was a mistake or a joke. But in the tip line, “1,000.00” was clearly written, with “XOXO,” a heart, and a message at the bottom:
“Give something for kids,” it said.
Hofstetter found the woman still in the hotel, and they shared a big hug. “I said, ‘I’ll never forget this; you have no idea how much this comes to me,’” Hofstetter said.
She spent the week talking with friends and her parents about what to do with the money. Both her parents advised her to keep it, she said. However, “serendipity” made up her mind.
Two days after getting the tip, Hofstetter met Kids on Wheels booster Clara Stanley in the YMCA parking lot, and she told Hofstetter about the teens trying to raise $50,000 by Sept. 22 to get a $50,000 matching grant. That would get them to their $100,000 goal and make building the skate park at Deer Run Park possible.
“I’m paying my bills by doing what I’m doing, I’m not at a deficit right now in my personal life, so this is like a surplus. And I wanted it to have the most meaningful impact that it could possibly have,” Hofstetter said about her tip.
“I really feel like this skate park will be for my kids, for all of our kids. … Kids have been asking for it for so long, and it’s not an unreasonable request. It’s not like they’re throwing a tantrum in the candy aisle.”
She said she knows that $1,000 toward a $50,000 goal is “a drop in the bucket, but I hope by people reading this, they can be inspired by this couple’s act of altruism” and donate as well.
Hofstetter also is volunteering with the Nashville parks committee and is running for town council. One of her goals is to influence and improve youth programming. When she’s not serving at Hotel Nashville or The Seasons, she works at the YMCA teaching swim lessons.
“Investing in the kids will have a residual effect throughout the community, and this is not just speculation,” she said. “If kids have stuff to do, there’s less crime, less drug use, they have higher education — these are things other communities have studied, and this happens.
“I just feel like it’s serendipitous that this happened, especially the time that it happened,” she said.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of tip, and it could have happened to anybody. I just happened to be the person behind the bar.”
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Kids on Wheels is a student-led group working to build a skate and teen park in Brown County. They had been trying to buy land on State Road 46 by the Law Enforcement Center, but have decided instead to put the park at the county-owned Deer Run Park because they were unable to raise money to buy the other land in time.
KOW is in the running for a $50,000 matching grant to build the skate park elements. To get it, they have to raise $50,000 by Sept. 22 through crowdfunding.
To donate, visit patronicity.com/project/kids_on_wheels_brown_county_teen_park
As of July 31, $15,200 had been pledged through the site.
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