Facebook / Jennifer Knox
One of the most universal impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the US doesn’t involve any symptoms of the disease itself. People in every state have felt the impact of closures of bars, restaurants and other “non-essential” retail spaces. People all over the country are now searching “new hiring jobs near me” to find work during this crisis.
Jennifer Knox, the owner of The Sand Bar in Tybee Island, Georgia, knows this all too well.
Knox, who has owned the bar for seven years, tells reporters that the small town of Tybee depends on tourism to keep its economy afloat. After all, only 3,000 people live there, and many of them work in jobs like bartending and other tourism service roles. Knox, mainly, is worried about the people who work for her.
“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,'” Knox tells reporters. There are single bills stapled all over the walls of her establishment. “‘We gotta get this money down.'”
The bills aren’t just decoration, though. They’re left behind by patrons who want to leave a mark on The Sand Bar. It’s a tradition that’s extended back for years in the establishment, where visitors will write their name on a dollar bill and then staple it to the walls of the bar. The establishment was, quite literally, walled with money.
Knox tells reporters that the work is far from simple. Five volunteers help her pull the bills down, carefully, over the course of days. Several of the bills had dozens of staples in them. Some were pinned to the wall years ago and covered by numerous other bills.
After a long process, they collected, cleaned, and finally counted the bills.
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” Knox insists. “I’ll do what I can for my people.”
The $3,714 dollars, all in single bills, was used to help pay Knox’s employees during this troubling time. When word got out about the initiative, the community rallied around it.
Shortly after news spread of Knox’s attempt to gather up the bills, the community donated some $400 to the cause. She paid the four bartenders and two musicians who work at the bar $600 each. Hopefully this will help them float through the rough days ahead, though Knox is uncertain of what the future will hold for The Sand Bar.
