HUMANKIND

Church tips driver $1,000 for $5.99 pizza

Matthew Diebel
USA TODAY
See how this pizza delivery woman reacted when she got the tip of a lifetime.

Holy pepperoni!

A Domino's driver was left in tears when an Ohio church congregation tipped her more than $1,000 after she delivered a $5.99 pizza, according to local media.

The sobbing started after the driver, who identified herself as Natasha in a video of the Oct. 4 surprise, brought the pie to the Sycamore Creek Church in Pickerington, a suburb southeast of Columbus, and Rev. Steve Markle asked her to go to the front of the sanctuary, reported the local Columbus Dispatch newspaper.

Watch "Church Surprises Pizza Driver" Video at columbusdispatch

Markle asked her the biggest tip she'd ever received and she answered it had been about $10. He gave her $15, but then told her: "We've been teaching our church this last month about being generous, and so we did something special for you today. We took up a special offering for a tip for you."

It turned out that church members had collected $1,046 to present to the driver.

According to the paper, the congregation had wrapped up a sermon series on "I was Broke. Now I'm Not" and had a monthly missions emphasis on "Random Acts of Kindness."

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As Markle pulled out the thick stack of bills, the driver gasped, covered her mouth and broke into tears, the video shows. She embraced him and said "Thank you so much."

"I hope that this can help you," Markle said. "I don't know what's going on in your life."

"It can help a lot," she replied. "Thank you so much. Thank you everybody."