Jeep owners raise money for Dairy Queen workers after driver steals tip jar

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE/Gray News) - A community in Indiana rallied together to show appreciation to employees at a local restaurant.

WFIE reports last week, a tip jar was stolen out of the drive-through window of a Dairy Queen restaurant by the driver of a Jeep.

After hearing of the crime, dozens of Jeep owners in the area showed up at the fast-food restaurant to show their support to the workers.

Employees at Dairy Queen say it restored their faith in people.

When the jar was stolen, shift lead Erin Liberknecht says she heard coins rattle but didn’t think anything of it.

“I went to go take the next person’s money, and then, right away, I went, ‘I think they just took our tip jar,’” Liberknecht said.

While there was only about $20 in the jar at the time, she says the theft was really disappointing.

“We’ve had the tip jar for three years and have never had a problem,” she said. “It kind of just makes us not trust people now.”

Employees shared the video on Facebook, where many people noticed the thief’s car was a Jeep.

Ryan Sermersheim, president of the Evansville Area Jeep Club, says some other Jeep owners in town decided to help out.

“If there’s anything we don’t like, that’s people in Jeeps giving us a bad name,” he said.

For Sermersheim and dozens of other so-called Jeepers who showed up on Sunday, Jeeps are more than cars.

“It’s more of a lifestyle than just a vehicle. It’s a common interest that we all can share, and we can all relate to each other, and we have fun doing it,” Sermersheim said.

The group raised upwards of $200 online before their event even started

“We wanted to come out in force, show them this is what the club is all about. This is what Jeepers truly are and not let one Jeep leave a bad taste in everybody’s mouth,” Sermersheim said.

Employee Abby Yates says the Jeepers’ kindness helps restore her faith in her community.

“We were blown away. We did not expect for it to blow up this big. We just wanted to find the person and get our tip jar back,” Yates said.

The club was able to raise a total of more than $500 for the employees at the end of the day to replace the stolen tip jar.

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