Service workers leave money on table in support of safe work places
1st April 2019 · 0 Comments
By Victoria Clark
Contributing Writer
Bake sales, raffles, lemonade stands and car washes: These are just a few of the methods communities have used to raise money to support charitable causes. On April 7, service industry workers in New Orleans are doing the same. But rather than setting up stands on the sidewalk, service industry workers plan to raise money by leaving some of their tips behind.
Shift Change, a New Orleans-based organization founded to support safe work environments for service industry workers, is encouraging service industry workers to donate a portion of their tips on Tip Out Day, an international day of giving from bars, restaurants and nightlife businesses.
Tip Out Day was founded in 2017 by Molly Bird and Mark Schettler, who also serves as the executive director of Shift Change. On Tip Out Day, bartenders, baristas, servers and other tipped workers donate a portion of their tips to sexual assault and abuse prevention organizations.
“Tip Out Day empowers service industry workers to effect change through their daily work,” said Caroline Richter, president of Shift Change. “Equally important, the event allows patrons an opportunity to drink, eat, and have fun for a cause.”
The day was created for restaurants, bars, and other nightlife businesses in New Orleans to acknowledge the incidents of sexual assault that tends to go unheard whether it be in work spaces or in club life. Allie, a BARE Nola representative and nightlife worker, said this is a way for all nightlife workers to support their community.
“As workers who receive cash tips, we can powerfully put cash in the hands of these organizations knowing that our community will benefit as a result.”
In its inaugural year, Tip Out Day raised $5,028 from 30 bartenders and servers. In 2018, 96 workers from 30 different cities and four countries raised $17,000. Shift Change hopes to double that this year.
Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response (STAR) and Bourbon Alliance of Responsible Entertainers (BARE) are two of the local non-profits that benefit from Tip Out Day.
Amy Jackson, the Greater New Orleans Regional director of STAR, said a lot of the funding for the non-profit is limited so fundraisers like Tip Out Day help support members of STAR when their mental health interferes with everyday life.
Although Tip Out Day began in New Orleans, its impact has grown nationally and internationally. Organizations from Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Singapore are supported by the fundraiser.
Other organizations that have been supported by Tip Out Day in the past include Northwest Arkansas Center for Sexual Assault, Strength United (Los Angeles), OutSmartNYC (New York), Healing to Action (Chicago), Community Action Stops Abuse (St Petersburg, FL), Women Organized Against Rape (Philadelphia), AWARE Singapore, and Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (Portland)..
“At a time when one in three women and one in five men experience sexual violence in their lifetimes, Tip Out Day is a major opportunity to rally against sexual violence,” Allie said.
With bartenders, servers, and plenty of nightlife workers behind the movement to end sexual violence, Tip Out Day is seen as just one step in an ongoing journey. As it continues to grow, Schettler said it is not only about providing support for these organizations, but also empowering them.
“We want to take the path of least resistance – cash in one hand, and back into the community
with the other. No waiting for someone else to write the check,” said Schettler in a press release. “We hope to empower tipped employees, and show them how easy it can be to make a lasting difference in their communities. We want to show our guests, and each other, that we are the face of change in our industry.”
As part of its work and mission, Shift Change offers services for communities and businesses, including curriculum and a certification program for service industry workers, which has been built collaboratively between service industry veterans and sexual violence prevention professionals.
Tipped workers from other locations are welcomed to participate online at www.tipoutday.com. For more information, contact info@shiftchange.me.
