Over $3,000 worth of bills stapled to walls removed at Georgia bar to give to unemployed staff

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. -- With restaurants and bars across the country closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, one bar owner in Georgia is going to extraordinary measures to donate money to her staff.

Jennifer Knox owns The Sand Bar on Tybee Island, near Savannah, which is known for its unusual decor. Its walls and even the ceiling are covered with cash.

WTOC reported that for six years, customers would write on dollar bills, which would then be stapled to the inside of the bar.


But as the bar has remained closed for weeks, Knox took a look around -- and decided to pay it forward to her employees.

“We literally had money on the walls and time on our hands," Knox told the station. "There was not a more perfect time to give back to my people.”

Knox and several volunteers spent three days painstakingly taking the bills off, one by one.

Customers would write their anniversaries or special occasions on the cash to celebrate their visits, and come back time and time again to see their bill up on the wall.

“Each one is a message of love and now we can give that love in return,” said Knox's mother, Pam Hessler.

After all of the bills were taken down, the bills added up to $3,714 -- and stretched in piles across the bar. But when some customers heard about generous move, additional donations came in, bringing the total up to $4,104.

It means The Sand Bar's bartenders and musicians will each get about $600.

Knox called it a "labor of love."

She said she set up a Venmo account to collect donations for others in the service industry on Tybee Island, as well.