A Dairy Queen in Brainerd, Minnesota, said its customers contributed to a 900-vehicle “pay it forward” chain worth more than $10,000 in sales.
Store manager Tina Jensen said it started Dec. 3, when one man decided to pay for the car behind him — prompting a chain of giving that lasted almost three full days, according to KARE 11.
“So the lady pulled up, and I said, ‘Just to let you know, the gentleman in front of you paid for your order. If you like, I can pay it forward, and you can pay for the order behind you, and we can keep this going.’ She’s like, ‘Really, why would he do that?’ I said we just have it every once in a while where someone will take care of the person behind them, and today is your lucky day.”
The longest chain of paying it forward Jensen had seen before this was no more than 20.
“One lady, she was so excited, she threw us a $20 bill almost in tears,” Jensen said. “‘Are you serious? This is really going on?’ I said yep you are about 125 cars into it. She said, ‘For real, can you believe this?'”
When the store closed Dec. 3, Jensen posted on Facebook that a patron paid it forward so the chain would continue when the store opened the next morning.
The Brainerd Dairy Queen posted a photo expressing its appreciation for the 900 participants when the chain ended.
“Thank you to all of our Fans for Paying it forward,” the post reads. “It was awesome to experience 2 and a half days of you all paying it forward. We ended at over 900 cars paying it forward.”
“It’s hard for us to come up with the right words to say,” the store wrote in a follow-up post. “THIS is what we stand for, THIS is Dairy Queen. … You brought smiles and maybe even a little tears to our whole Crew and we’re sure to you as well. This is a great act of Humanity, this is what the world needs a little more of. Whether it be to make someone’s day, the Holiday Spirit or to just feel like a kid again. Thank You Fans for letting [us] serve you one red spoon at a time! Keep the positivity going, spread the love!”
Jensen told KARE 11 that the chain of generosity helped raise the crew’s spirits during a difficult winter, as the coronavirus pandemic rages and lockdown restrictions deter going to restaurants. “Especially now and how things have been going this year, it definitely helped us here in the store with our crew members,” she said, adding that the crew was “very excited” to witness such kindness.
