Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids On The Block made the first day of the new year pretty memorable for a restaurant server.
The singer and his wife Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg had a late lunch with their kids at an IHOP near their home in St. Charles, Illinois on Wednesday.
As they left the eatery, Wahlberg handed Bethany Provencher the folded bill for their $78.46 meal and told her to open it after they were gone.
The NKOTB singer and Blue Bloods star had left a $2,020 tip and wrote “Thanks Bethany” and “Happy New Year. 2020 Tip Challenge” on the bill.
“It was unreal that it really happened to me ‘cause stuff like that don’t happen to me,” Provencher told NBC Chicago. The 38-year-old single mom, who moved from Miami only months ago, said she will use the money to furnish her new home.
Provencher said she got to personally thank the pop star for his generosity when he called the restaurant on Thursday.
The hefty gratuity was made public not by Provencher but by Wahlberg’s wife. “@DonnieWahlberg starting 2020 off like the amazing man he is,” she tweeted with a photo of the bill.
. @DonnieWahlberg starting 2020 off like the amazing man he is. #ihop #2020tipchallenge
— Jenny McC-Wahlberg (@JennyMcCarthy) January 1, 2020
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