by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

April 11, 2020

Bar Owner in Georgia Removes $3,714 of Stapled Dollar Bills to Give to Her Unemployed Staff

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Nothing goes to waste in this Georgia bar! After having the doors to her establishment shut down due to the coronavirus crisis, a Georgia bar owner found a way to give her unemployed staff money. According to CNN, the owner removed dollar bills stapled on the walls that have accumulated around the bar for years, in order to have money to give to her staff.

Jennifer Knox, the owner of The Sand Bar, which is located on Tybee Island, has been hit hard because of the stay-at-home order her state has implemented recently. Just like many other restaurants and bars, The Sand Bar had to shut its doors and switch to serving takeout and delivery only. The restrictions, which were put in place to help control the spread of the virus, has left the bar to struggle financially.

At the end of last month, as she sat at her place of business, she looked around and then suddenly realized that there was an opportunity to help her now unemployed staff.

“We were sitting there doors locked and I’m like oh my gosh, ‘there’s money on the walls and we have time on our hands,” she told CNN, after remembering that the bar’s decor had dollar bills stapled to the wall. “We gotta get this money down.”

Knox has been working at the bar for seven years as a bartender before working her way to owner. She now runs the bar with her mother, Pam Hessler. Knox had just celebrated her sixth anniversary of owning the bar.

It’s been a tradition for almost 15 years for patrons to leave their mark on the island bar by writing on a dollar bill and then stapling it to the walls and ceilings.

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” Knox said before deciding to take down the dollar bills to try and help her employees. “I’ll do what I can for my people.”

Over the next three and a half days, along with five other volunteers, they took on the tedious task to help take down all the weathered money. After the bills were taken down, it took about a week and a half to clean them off and get them counted. The total of the collected bills were $3,714. The stacks of bills stretched in piles across the entire bar countertop.

Several inspired customers donated to the cause after hearing about Knox’s actions. In total, Knox was able to distribute $4,104 to her staff. Four bartenders and two musicians each were given $600.