Maria Lopez was collecting money in a blue tip jar to support the family of an 18-year-old employee who died in a fire.
Maria's restaurant, Camino Real, is beloved by all her customers. When they heard about the tragedy, they began donating to the tip jar she set out on the counter. It was wrapped in a picture of the late teen with a handwritten message explaining her story. The jar quickly filled up with over $2,000.
Maria and her customers are like family and have built a bond over trust and kindness.
"Everybody was putting money in the jar," Maria explains in the video below from December 5, 2016.
One day, Maria's world was turned upside down allegedly by a man named Aaron Gooch, who had been in her restaurant before.
While she looked away, Gooch apparently swiped the tip jar from the countertop and hid it underneath his jacket. He slid out of the restaurant and brought the money home to his girlfriend, Courtney White.
After facing the devastation Gooch is suspected of causing, Maria only wanted one thing. "I want to see his face and ask him, face to face, why he did that," she says. "Why?"
"He stole my money," a disappointed Maria says.
Although authorities said Gooch was still on the run with the majority of the $2,000, his girlfriend was found and arrested. Then, $220 of the stolen money was returned to Maria after investigators got a hold of the cash.
The $220 isn't all Maria was given after the incident.
When the Dickson County, TN, community heard of Maria's troubles, they donated even more money than she initially raised from her old tip jar. They filled Maria's new jar to the brim.
"Everybody's coming and put more money in this jar," Maria beams. Her appreciation for her customers can't be matched.
After all, events like this are exactly what family is for.
Please SHARE this uplifting story of a community coming together for a cause if you hope Maria gets the rest of the money back!
