LemonisMarcus Lemonis, the entrepreneur, philanthropist, advocate, TV personality and the chairman and CEO of Camping World, who also hosts CNBC’s The Profit and Streets of Dreams and HGTV’s The Renovator, made a surprise announcement in-person at his alma mater, Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, this week.
As part of his The Great American Tip Off campaign, a nation-wide call to action to show some extra love to the hard-working Americans who serve us every day, Lemonis surprised the faculty and staff of Christopher Columbus with a $3.1M tip for their service over the years. Each employee will receive a check in the amount of $18,000.
“When we think about the people that make this school run, the people that make it tick, the people that take care of the grounds and those in the classrooms that teach us, those for me are the most important service providers on the planet,” Lemonis said. “Today, I’ll be providing a $3.1M tip to everyone that works at the school, every single employee will receive a check for $18,000.”
In addition to the $3.1 million, Lemonis donated another $7 million to the high school so that it can fund important educational improvements. The two immediate additions will be:
A center for college and career guidance, which is being named after two longtime Columbus teachers – the late Irene Culmo and Mrs. Pat Call, who still works part-time at the school. The second addition will be a success center named after the Desmond family, who inspired Marcus to attend Christopher Columbus
Marcus announced The Great American Tip Off in November and pledged $1 million from his Lemon Aid Foundation to tip servers and workers across the country. Marcus is also enlisting some of his famous friends to join the movement to tip big – he’s made visits across the U.S. to businesses with Amy Schumer, Jason Biggs, Kristen Bell and Rob Dydrek, among others.
