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

NEW ORLEANS — A waitress in New Orleans who was given a big tip is taking the money and paying it forward.

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Ava Guan is a waitress at the Hoshun Asian fusion restaurant, and while working on Saturday night, she was tipped $777 on a $63.40 bill, nola.com reported.

The person who left the tip, Abdul Hamideh, is a franchise owner of both IHOP and Popeyes restaurants and had just opened a new restaurant. Feeling thankful, he wanted to bless someone with a generous act and decided to tip $777, telling WDSU that he believed the number is lucky.

“I had something good happen to me in this world, and I wanted to pay it forward,” Hamideh told nola.com.

While Guan initially thought the giant tip may have been an error, a note on the back said, “Take the night off,” nola.com reported.

Guan had prayed for money just the night before, but not for herself. Guan told WGNO that she had donated $300 to Olive Church because it needed money to repair its air conditioning. She said that while she knew the money wouldn’t be enough, she prayed for more help for the church.

“This is what they call God doing miracles,” Alex Yang, a church leader, told nola.com. “We think God has sent this gentleman to tell her that Christ is here and in control.”

After receiving the tip, Guan donated $700 more to the church, WGNO reported.

When Hamideh learned that Guan had donated the tip to repair the church’s air conditioning, he told nola.com that he planned to make sure the air conditioning system was repaired.