Just a few months ago, there were a slew of heartwarming 'giving forward' incidents being reported by fast food restaurants all across America. Now, there is a new giving trend surfacing in fine dining establishments, in the form of extraordinarily generous tips!

It began in Ann Arbor, Michigan on September 8th, 2013. Some diners walked into a local restaurant and ran up a bill of $87.88 USD. When it came time to pay, they added $3,000 USD to the tip and then quietly sneaked away. The only clue that it was not a mistake, was a stamp of twitter handle @tipsforjesus.

That same day, the generous anonymous tipper gave an additional $5,000 USD to another waiter and then even a heftier $7,000 USD, to the co-owner of Alley Bar also in Ann Arbor. Since then, the trend has continued all the way from New York City to Chicago to San Francisco. Each time the anonymous tipper strikes, he takes a copy of the restaurant bill reflecting his generosity and posts it on Instagram, for all to see.

In December 2013, Arjun Dhawan, a waiter at Bo's restaurant in New York, who received $1,000 USD, identified the tipper as former Paypal Vice President and multi-millionaire, Jack Selby. Though that rumor has never been confirmed, on February 21st, the mysterious man who has so far given away $130,000 USD in tips, did meet with a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle. Under the condition that his identity not be revealed, the man behind 'Tips for Jesus' disclosed that the reason for the generous tips was to give back and also, encourage others that have been as fortunate, to do the same.

Seems as though his message is getting across. On Saturday, February 1st, Amber Kariolich, Amy Sabani and Sarah Seckinge, who waitress at the Boone County Family Restaurant in Caledonia, Illinois, were discussing amongst themselves how hard it was to make ends meet, whilst still going to school. Unknown to the trio, a customer that Amber had just finished serving was listening to the conversation. Before leaving the restaurant, she handed them each a check for $5,000 USD, to 'help with school and everything else in life'. The only thing she requested of course, was complete anonymity.

If that is not heartwarming enough, on February 15th, 2014, another generous customer left a $1,000 USD tip for a $61 USD tab at the Maui Brick Oven in Hawaii. To ensure that the waiter did not think it was an error, he/she even scribbled 'not a typo' on the side! Will more copycats join the trend? 'Tips for Jesus', certainly hopes so - He for one is planning to continue doing his part by giving back, one ginormous tip at at time.

Resources: christianpost.com,news.yahoo.com, sfgate.com