Meet the RGV Serial Tipper

Fernanda Figueroa | THE RIDER

UTRGV alumna Clarissa Laura Ruiz, aka the RGV Serial Tipper, is helping community members by raising money to tip servers huge amounts of money across the Rio Grande Valley.

Having always been interested in philanthropy and community service, Ruiz began this movement in July after getting the idea from a TikTok video in the hope of spreading joy in the Valley.

“I would get onto social media and see a lot of division, sadness or despair,” Ruiz said. “I grew tired of that and thought to myself how can we spread hope and joy here? So, when I came across this on TikTok, I thought, ‘Hey, why not just start it here?’”

Ruiz collects donations from interested individuals every week through mobile payment apps from 5 p.m. Sunday through 3 p.m. Friday. Depending on the amount, collected tips are distributed between one or three individuals across the Valley, rotating among counties every week.

“The selection of choosing recipients is truly divine intervention,” Ruiz said. “It’s basically recommendations and [letting] God lead us.”

It truly was divine intervention for Gavin Suarez, a server at Classic’s Bar & Grill in Harlingen and recent recipient of a tip from Ruiz. Suarez originally did not plan to attend work, having just come from a football game, but, luckily, his mom convinced him otherwise.

“I thought it was going to be a normal day,” Suarez said. “[Ruiz] started telling me about the tip and I was in shock because it’s not something that happens every day to somebody. I was just in shock and I felt blessed because it was happening to me.”

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the work that Ruiz is doing is a blessing to the RGV community.

“It’s great because you don’t know what kind of situation somebody is in,” said Victoria Garcia, Suarez’s mother. “People that are at work, working hard, deserve something like that.”

Ruiz said she feels extremely blessed that she is able to bring a smile to people’s faces and hopes that this movement can show how people from different backgrounds, even if they just have a little bit to give, can come together and help others.

“I am literally just the vessel,” she said. “It shows how many people can come together regardless of race, religion, identity or political affiliation. It talks a lot about how somebody is willing to give whatever they have not knowing what is about to come next for their own personal future.”

Ruiz does not know how long she will continue being the RGV Serial Tipper, but with the support of the RGV community she will continue to do so.

“I would love for this to continue for a while, but it’s all in the hands of the ones who are supporting the movement,” she said.

Donations can be made through: Venmo at: Clarissa-Ruiz-1995 and CashApp at: $rruiz0414.

You can also follow Ruiz on Facebook @RGVSerialTipper and TikTok @clarissaruiz30.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/RGVSERIALTIPPER/.