A waitress from the US has received a flood of support after she was left a note from two customers telling her they “don’t tip black people”.

Kelly Carter was serving a white man and woman, both aged in their mid-20s, at Anita’s New Mexico Style Cafe in Virginia. The couple spent more than $30 (about £25) before leaving without giving a tip and writing a note on their bill which read: “Great service don’t tip black people.”

Carter said one of the customers even told her how much they liked the breakfast she had served before leaving the note.

“I was just in total shock, that’s all I can say,” Carter told NBC Washington. “I looked at the receipt three times because I was so shocked, never ever being a server have I seen that.”

Two of Carter’s regular customers saw the note and posted it to Facebook, where it has since received a huge amount of attention.

When life provides lemons, though, it turns out there are some kind souls out there to make them into lemonade.

Since the incident, Carter said she has received hugs from her regular customers. A YouCaring page has been set up to give her the tip she never received, which has now raised almost $3,000 (£2,500).

That’s a fair bit better than a 20% tip on breakfast. A silver lining to a particularly nasty cloud.