The positive reaction to "Aaron's Wish" — a young Kentucky man's request that after he died his family give some lucky waiter or waitress an "awesome" tip of at least $500 — continues.
We posted on Tuesday about how Aaron Collins' family had started a blog about his request and how strangers had been moved to contribute money to make it happen.
Contributors didn't give just enough for one big tip, though. By the start of this week, nearly $50,000 had come in and family members were figuring they could keep leaving the big tips once a week for the next two years.
Today, All Things Considered talked with Aaron's brother Seth, their mother Tina and waitress Sarah Ward, who last month was the first server to benefit from Aaron's unusual request.
Seth said the fund now has more than $52,000. And the family has been amazed by the support it's gotten.
"I never expected this sort of outpouring from the entire world," said Seth. Contributions have come from not just the U.S. but also "Japan, Brazil, Australia, the Ukraine."
The project, he added, "keeps Aaron's spirit alive" for the family.
And he suspects his brother not only "would have been surprised how big it's become," but also that "he would be laughing, watching how much work" he's left for the family to do.
Work, though, that Seth says has helped draw the family together. And that it plans to keep doing as long as possible.
More from the conversation is due on today's All Things Considered. Click here to find an NPR station that broadcasts or streams the show. Later, we'll add the as-broadcast version to the top of this post.
Meanwhile, Seth says that six $500 tips have now been handed out. And he's posted the fourth video in the family's series.
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