A Couple Went on a Date to Olive Garden and Raised Money for Their Pregnant Waitress
May 26 2023, Published 10:07 p.m. ET
Anyone who has ever worked in customer service knows that certain jobs like waitressing are extremely stressful, particularly if you're also pregnant!
However, one couple at an Olive Garden noticed how kind their pregnant server was, so they wanted to do something to help her, beyond leaving a tip for their meal.
The couple posted their story on TikTok, telling their followers that they wanted to see if they could raise money for their pregnant waitress.
Were they able to raise any money? Here's what we know.
A couple raised money for a pregnant waitress through TikTok.
The TikToker in question, @officialemilybrooke, posted about how the pregnant waitress she and her boyfriend encountered at their local Olive Garden was "absolutely precious and so utterly kind."
The couple wanted to help the waitress, who was seven months pregnant. Although they didn't expect to raise a lot of money, they posted about their experience on TikTok to see if anyone would want to help.
To Emily's surprise, her appeal to the internet was fortuitous. They ended up raising several thousand dollars for the pregnant waitress, and Emily was more than willing to verify with her followers that this was a legitimate charitable effort and not a scam for them to earn some extra cash.
Were they able to give the pregnant waitress the money?
Emily said on the video that they managed to raise $3,809. She told her followers that she wanted to make sure the the pregnant waitress got all of the money, and didn't have to share it with her co-workers because of the tip-out requirements of her job.
So how does that work? Emily explained her plan — she intended to take the pregnant waitress on a late lunch, so that way she could accept the money as a gift and not a tip.
She also recognized that giving the pregnant waitress the money right before her shift wouldn't be wise because she might not have enough time to properly process the gesture, hence the invitation to an early lunch!
Emily also didn't want to give the pregnant waitress the money after a shift due to the fact that she typically worked the later shifts at Olive Garden.
Which is pretty considerate, because any kind of waitressing job can be draining and once your shift ends you usually just want to head home ASAP! Emily also explained that all of the money raised on her Venmo would go straight to the pregnant waitress.
Thankfully Emily was able to post the video of her giving the monetary gift to the pregnant waitress (whose name is Madelyn).
Madelyn was understandably blown away by the fact that so many people raised several thousand dollars, adding, "That is the kindest, most thoughtful thing that anything has done for me." Her baby, a son is due in August 2023!
