Single Mom Pizza Delivery Driver Gets Shocking $1,400 Tip from Church

"It was just amazing," Audrey Martin, 23, said of her big tip.

ByABC News
November 24, 2015, 1:45 PM

— -- One single mother in Tennessee sure has plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Audrey Martin, a mom to three children under the age of five, is a delivery driver for Domino's pizza. She received a $1,400 tip Sunday from a local church -- money that she desperately needs.

“They ordered 10 pizzas and when I got on stage [the pastor] had asked everybody to give me a good tip,” Martin, 23, of Rocky Top, Tenn., told ABC News. “Everybody at the church got up and started handing the preacher money and it was just crazy. So many people got up. They started hugging me, it was just awesome. I couldn’t help but cry. It was just amazing.”

In the spirit of giving, Pastor Tony McAfee had previously called the Domino’s location where Martin works, asking the store’s manager if anyone employed there was in particular need of a blessing.

“I didn’t know how huge this would be," said McAfee. "I did not know all of her story. I just thought it would be nice to surprise somebody with a huge tip.”

When Martin showed up with the large delivery, she was stunned when the pastor called her onto the stage.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,” Martin recalled. “I was so nervous because there were so many people out there. I was like, ‘I hope I don’t pass out.”

The pastor’s unexpected good deed was part of his teaching series on generosity.

“Of course nobody knew ahead of time of just how much she needed this,” McAfee explained, unaware that Martin was a single mother who had recently lost her apartment. “It was all done quietly and discreetly and it was all spontaneous. When I mentioned we wanted to give this lady a generous tip, people began to run...to the front and began to throw money on the platform. And they’ve never seen this lady before in their life.”

As for Martin, the shocking moment truly was a miracle that couldn’t have come at a better time.

“It’s going to help a lot,” she said. “Not only with the kids’ Christmas, but I recently lost my apartment. I’m able to get a place for the kids and me, to finally be able to move out of my mom’s house.”

“It just makes me feel so blessed,” she added. “I always give to people. I never ask for anything in return. It’s just a shock that I have received this, especially in my need when everything is hard right now.”

That’s exactly what McAfee and his congregation were hoping to accomplish.

“Here’s our motto: What flows from you determines what flows to you,” he said. “A little generosity, no matter what has been going on in your life, no matter how bad things seem to be in the world, generosity dispels darkness.”