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New air conditioner and pancakes follow $777 tip to benefit church

NEW ORLEANS — Days after a New Orleans waitress donated a $700 tip she received to her church, the person behind the tip has donated even more money to help the church get the new air conditioner it needed.

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Ava Guan was working as a waitress last Saturday when she was tipped $777 on a $63.40 bill, as we previously reported. She took the money and gave it to her church, to which she had already donated $300, to repair a broken air conditioner.

The man who left the tip, Abdul Hamideh, is a franchise owner of both IHOP and Popeyes restaurants and had been out celebrating the opening of a new restaurant when he left the tip, WDSU reported.

When Hamideh found out that Guan had donated the tip, he stepped in to offer to donate the balance of whatever was needed to get the building’s air conditioner running again.

>> Read: New Orleans waitress given $777 tip donates the money to church

Hamidah visited the Olive C. Church in New Orleans on Thursday, dropping off a check for $1,300 and posing for some photos in front of the church altar, nola.com reported. Hamideh was supposed to stay and meet congregants and be interviewed by local media, but told nola.com by phone that, “I gave the money and ran,” explaining that he was shy.

“It’s been a crazy experience,” Hamideh told nola.com. “You know, Ava is probably living — bless her heart — from paycheck to paycheck. If she could give to her church, everybody should be able to give.”

Hamideh told nola.com he also plans to send a breakfast from IHOP to the church next Sunday.