$2,021 Tip Continues Kindness Trend 1 Year Into Pandemic

INDEPENDENCE, OH — Ways to spread kindness during the coronavirus pandemic have been creative, with one trend in particular helping those in the restaurant industry who have been impacted financially.

What started as a $2,020 tip challenge to bring positivity a year ago has continued into 2021. A Cleveland-area restaurant worker is among the latest to be gifted a $2,021 tip.

Two customers at the Slyman's Tavern in Independence a few weeks ago bonded with the worker, Tanya, over their shared grief. All three were widows, and Tanya was still grieving over the death of her husband last April.

At the end of their meal, the customers left the $2,021 tip on a $100.21 bill, according to a Cleveland.com report.

"'This is for you,'" the women said to Tanya, Slyman's Marketing Coordinator Rebecca Riemer told Cleveland.com. "'Things are going to get better.'"

Celebrities Donnie Wahlberg, Harry Styles and Tom Selleck are among the people who have participated in the $2,021 tip challenge, aimed at spreading joy to those who need it most, People reported in a feature on the kindness initiative.

The trend started right away this year, with a $2,021 tip left by a loyal customer at a restaurant in Miami on New Year's Day.

For the good-willed who might not be able to afford a tip that large, there's the $20.21 tip equivalent. Random acts of kindness involving the smaller tip amount have popped up on social media often this year.

"My goal is to attempt to do the $20.21 tip challenge once a month to pass on some blessings," a suburban Chicago woman wrote on Facebook.