Give a $500 Tip to Central New York Server with the Venmo Challenge

It's been tough on all frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can help make a huge difference for at least one of them with the Venmo Challenge here in the Utica-Rome area.

Maybe you've heard about the Venmo Challenge. It started on Reddit, and has really taken off on TikTok. It goes like this: you make a donation - any amount is great - and when we reach $500, we'll head out to eat (we'll pay for our own meal) and that $500 will become the tip for whoever the server is that day.

Hopefully, that $500 will help that person pay off some bills and get caught up, since so many restaurants were closed for so long - and even now, business isn't quite back where it was before.

So far, we've already $188.52 of our $500 goal. If you want to donate, just send your donation via Venmo to @Elizabeth-Coombs-1 or scan the QR code below. So far, we've gotten donations from $1.39 to $25 - any amount is great.

When we finally do reach our goal, we'll record the whole thing for you. Here's just one example of how this works. (If we raise more than our $500 goal - we'll do this again.)

When you make a donation - suggest a restaurant we should go to in Central New York, too.