Rita Rose Williams turned a $40 tip to a waitress into more than $9,000 in donations. She didn’t plan it. But Ms. Williams certainly nudged it along. 

On Dec. 1, Ms. Williams gave Jazmine Castillo a $20 tip for a $30 meal at IHOP in Atlanta. “She was … so so grateful, I gave her another $20,” wrote Ms. Williams on Instagram later that day. Ms. Castillo explained the tip alone would cover daycare for her 1-year-old daughter. 

After learning more about Ms. Castillo’s financial situation (a recent car accident and overdue rent), Ms. Williams wrote down Ms. Castillo’s Cash App handle. Ms. Williams later posted a description of this “IHOP blessing” on Instagram.  What happened next is another example of community generosity unleashed.

"I was bathing my baby, and I started hearing my phone go off," Ms. Castillo told WJXX-TV in Jacksonville, Florida. "I don't usually get Cash App, so I didn't recognize the ring tone, and it just got crazier and crazier ... and it hasn't stopped."

As of Tuesday, Ms. Castillo had received more than $9,000 in donations. She’s stunned and grateful. “The money is more than greatly appreciated,” she wrote to donors. “But ... the fact that it came from the heart and that y’all really didn’t have to do that but chose to do so got to me.”

And Ms. Williams has added a new twist, challenging her followers to find their own Jazmine to bless. “You never know who’s just one step from giving up,” she posted on Facebook. “You never know. So, be kind to people.”