03rd May, 2022
Aaron Collins passed away just three weeks after his 30th birthday, but he left a legacy that has touched thousands of people.
One of his final wishes was to give a waiter or waitress a $500 tip.
When his brother Seth fulfilled his wish, giving a waitress a $500 tip at Puccini’s, in Lexington, Kentucky, he recorded a video and put it on YouTube.
Within days, the video was viewed over one million times, and thirty thousand dollars had been donated to continue the cause, now known as “Aaron’s Last Wish.”
In the video, Collins gave the waitress, Sarah Ward, the $500 tip, explaining that his brother had just passed away and that giving a $500 tip was his final wish. Ward told him, “I’m going to be telling this story for the rest of my life.”
Hundreds of waiters and waitresses have now received $500 tips, all of which are chronicled on the Aaron’s Wish website.
At first, Collins was only visiting restaurants in Lexington, but he has since given a $500 tip in every state in the U.S.
He told NPR, “People have been programmed to think that good things can’t happen…and it makes me happy to, at least for a few of them, show that they can.”
Aaron was generous in life, and that’s probably why he didn’t have the money to do this himself. He just accepted that if someone needed help, he would help them.”
And in a way, he is doing just that.
This too shall pass,
Does this inspire you to do something “awesome” for a stranger, be nice to people and help someone in need? Help someone and stay blessed forever.