Travelers through the Atlanta airport may be familiar with Tonee Carter.
He’s a pianist who plays at Concourse A of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. He does it simply to brighten people’s days as they venture to their gates, according to WSB-TV.
One of the people who recently stopped to hear Carter play the piano is Carlos Whittaker — a speaker, author, podcaster and influencer — who listened to Carter’s story and sprang into action.
Whittaker was grabbing a meal at Chick-fil-A when he noticed that no one was listening to Carter, “so I thought I would sit down and enjoy his music.”
Then, Whittaker noticed an empty tip jar — and turned to his followers to help fix that.
Here’s what happened next:
“30 minutes later and after a 20 minute conversation getting to know him, we tipped Tonee, who has kidney disease and is on dialysis 9 hours every night but still comes into work everyday to play…
“$10,000… which has grown to $61,000.
“I love it when we show the talking heads who make a living stoking outrage that there’s a better way to be human.
“This is it.”
The biggest tip Carter had ever received was $600, Whittaker found out during his conversation with the piano player.
Of course, that changed when Whittaker’s 170,000 followers — strangers, to Carter — pooled together $10,000 (at least, at the time of the video).
“He’s radiates life…” Whittaker said of Carter in a separate Instagram post, commemorating the emotional reaction to the kind gesture. Whittaker also thanked his followers: “You guys are the definition of Hope. Thank you for being on this journey with me. Cheers to Tonee… And cheers to Human Hope…”
Whittaker announced the final tally in an Instagram story on Thursday (July 22): The tip collection reached $61,000.
Carter has since posted a video on his own Instagram account, crediting Whittaker and his follower’s generosity.
Watch Whittaker’s video here: