A bar with walls covered in bills has pulled them down to donate close to $14,000 to Bahamas hurricane relief.
The Siesta Key Oyster Bar (SKOB) in Florida has the unusual decor thanks to a long-standing tradition which sees customers staple bills to the wall when they visit.
“Every few years we take the money down and donate to local charities," general manager Kristin Hale told the PA news agency. “This time the owners felt that we should give to the Bahamas."
The Bahamas was devastated by the effects of Hurricane Dorian, with 56 confirmed deaths, 600 missing, and around 1,500 still living in shelters in the country, according to the World Health Organization, over a month after the storm hit.
A huge fundraising effort has taken place around the world and in particular in nearby Florida, with SKOB one of a number of businesses in Siesta Key coming together to collect money.
With so many bills built up over the last three years since the walls were last cleared, staff at the bar had a hard job taking them all down.
“It took the staff a full month to get down what we did, and there are still some hanging," Hale said.
When the money was tallied, the SKOB staff had a total of $13,961 to hand over.
People were moved by the idea!
And loved that their money was helping others!
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We were all surprised.
Money well spent!
“We never expected it to amount to as much as it did," Hale said. “We are super thankful that we were able to do this for the people in the Bahamas."
A further fundraising event with three other restaurants and bars in Siesta Key on Sunday collected an additional estimated $10,000.
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