The Sand Bar is a restaurant located in Tybee Island, Georgia and was once a business bustling with patrons. Since the coronavirus pandemic hit, the restaurant is so quiet you can hear a pin drop and its completely empty.
Tybee Island is a beach town with a population of around 3,000 and their economy strives on tourism each year.
March was supposed to be a busy season for Tybee Island and The Sand Bar.
The owner, Jennifer Knox, had to close her beloved restaurant after a stay-at-home order was put in place by Georgia officials which instructed restaurants to only serve takeout and delivery.
Although she had to let go of her employees and found herself and the restaurant in a financially tough situation, Knox thought of a solution.
Knox tells CNN, “We were sitting there doors locked and I’m like oh my gosh, ‘there’s money on the walls and we have time on our hands. We gotta get this money down.’”
The money on the walls is a result of patrons writing on a dollar bill and stapling it to the wall and ceilings for the past 15 years.
This is Knox’s 6th year of owning The Sand Bar. Prior to owning the bar, she worked there as a bartender for seven years.
It took three and a half days and five volunteers, but they all carefully took down the dollar bills and preserved them the best they could — some of the dollar bills had an extreme amount of staples in them while other bills found were from different countries.
Once all the bills were taken down, it was time for them to be cleaned and counted. After a week and a half, there were a total of $3,714 bills counted.
Patrons of The Sand Bar started hearing about Knox’s initiative to give back to her employees and they began donating as well. This made it possible for Knox to give $4,104 to her employees. She reveals that four bartenders and two musicians who normally performed at the restaurant were able to receive $600 each.
Knox is still collecting donations, and if interested, you can donate here.
So what’s going to happen to the walls now that all the bills have been taken down? Knox says it will get a fresh coat of bright-colored paint and she’s thinking of a different way patrons can leave their imprint.