Big Fat Tip #53 is the third drop in a series of five that we handed out on December 20, 2023. The Big Fat Tip® celebrated its fifth anniversary of being an official organization on that day, and we commemorated the event by giving out a surprise $1,000 tip for each year. We gave these to randomly selected businesses in Lakeland, Florida, close to our headquarters address, which is in the downtown Catapult Lakeland business incubator.
Eric Vaden, a longtime supporter of our organization, paid for all five tips. Eric owns a GEICO agency in Boston, Massachusetts. He is quite the entrepreneur and recently bought the license to ten pet grooming businesses called Splash and Dash Groomerie & Boutique. Tragically, one of his new team members, Eden Beck, died in a car accident on December 10, 2023. Eric wanted to honor Eden’s life through these random acts of kindness. While grateful for his support and generous gift, our hearts go out to Eden’s family and friends. A tribute to her is at the end of the five videos.
We recently started highlighting stories about the volunteers, where appropriate. Our featured volunteer for this drop is Brad Lunz. Brad met our founder while serving on the board of the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra. Brad owns a prominent architecture business in Lakeland, which has designed many noteworthy projects in the city. In addition to his architecture business, Brad entered into the content creation business by founding The Apiary, an animation and design firm. He recently inked an exciting deal, which means you may be watching his creations on a screen near you soon.
