900 People Pay Kindness Forward at a Fast Food Drive Thru

When you witness an act of kindness, it instantly warms your heart and restores your faith in humanity. Many people show compassion for others by buying their coffee or food from a self-service line. You’ve probably heard tons of stories like this from people paying for it at your local Starbucks. This happened recently at a Dairy Queen in northern Minnesota, where 900 cars participated in the good deed!

Employees at the fast food chain couldn’t believe how many cars participated, but maybe the Christmas spirit had something to do with it. During the holidays, many people feel more cheerful and want to help lift the spirits of those around them. Customers of the Dairy Queen in Brainerd, Minnesota, must certainly have felt the joy of the season. Too, the pandemic has brought out amiability in many people, especially since many have lost their jobs or loved ones.

We need more kindness!

With so much happening in the world right now, the “chain reaction of goodness” brings hope to people’s hearts. Paying for someone’s food may not seem like a lot, but it can remind people that others care. It can turn a bad day around and help people remember that we’re all in this together. Little acts of kindness like that really light up a dark world and keep us connected.

Dairy Queen Store Manager Tina Jensen explained to CNN how the advance payment chain started. One day in December 2020, a man stopped at the chain’s drive-thru and told the cashier that he wanted to pay for the car behind him. While Jensen said he has seen people pay for others before, it usually only lasts 15-20 cars, not 900! None of the store employees expected what happened during the lunch rush hour that day.

The act of kindness surprised everyone, including the customers.

Actually, the act of kindness it continued for two and a half days, turning into 900 acts of kindness. In total, the store earned around $ 10,000 from this extended pay-ahead event. They had never seen anything like it, and it brought everyone so much love and joy during a difficult time.

Employees helped maintain the chain by telling each customer that the previous car had paid for them. Naturally, this encouraged them to pay for the person behind them, and the act of kindness continued. The deputy director said they would inform customers how many cars they had paid for before them to keep the momentum going. When employees told them there had been five, fifteen, and eventually 30 cars, customers were excited to continue participating.

Nobody wanted to be the one to break the chain!

Jensen told CNN that you can help people in many different ways. Paying for someone’s dinner may seem like a small act of kindness, but it can make a big difference. You never know what someone goes through in their daily life, so being generous and thinking of others can mean a lot. Obviously, the early payment event at Dairy Queen moved a lot of people, including those who read the story later.

When the restaurant closed the first night of the event, a customer left $ 10 to continue the next day. Then when they closed on Friday night, the same thing happened again, so they came back to pick him up on Saturday morning. As each day closed, Jensen updated the store facebook page with the number of cars that had participated.

The kind acts performed at this fast food chain brought out the best in people

Heidi Bruse decided to pick up dinner at the Dairy Queen on a Friday night and was able to experience the act of kindness. She said those kinds of things help restore her faith in humanity, especially during difficult times. Heidi said that in today’s world, unfortunately, you see the angry, uptight, and selfish side of people. However, the self-service line brought out pure kindness and love in people during those few days.

He said getting free ice cream wasn’t even the highlight of the night. Being able to tell his family that he had paid for someone’s food and helped keep the chain going was.

Jensen said that since the pandemic began, the restaurant has struggled, like many food establishments. They had to temporarily close the lobby and had to reduce capacity to 50%. With just the drive-thru open, they’ve lost revenue for a few months, but the big turnout that weekend helped tremendously.

In addition to the increase in income, the chain reaction of kindness which lasted three days boosted employee morale. The restaurant’s kitchen team kept asking other employees if the chain was still running. When Jensen said yes, everyone got excited and waited for him to continue for a while. With everything that happened in the world in the past year, the act of kindness helped employees stay positive.

Also, employees loved being able to see customer reactions when they said their food had been served. Jensen said it was a great reminder that no matter what the world throws at us, we should never stop worrying. Also, focusing on all the positives rather than the negatives helps people get through tough times. The act of kindness helped everyone remember that as long as we take care of ourselves, everything will be fine.

Final thoughts: hard times bring out the goodness in people, like at the Dairy Queen in Minnesota

There are many stories about people paying in advance in self-service lines, mainly in coffee shops. However, the act of kindness at a Dairy Queen in Minnesota was unprecedented. 900 cars participated and the chain of generosity lasted two and a half days! Many people were touched by the kind hearts of others and so they wanted to contribute as well.

These are difficult times on the planet right now, but this story is a great reminder to always be kind. Reach out to people when you can and never stop spreading love and compassion. Now, more than ever, we all need each other.

YYou can see the moving act of kindness here: