7-Eleven Employee Gets Bonus After Having 7-Pound, 11-Ounce Baby

from wftv

ESSEXVILLE, Mich. -- Oh, thank heaven: 7-Eleven employee Erin Kappen got a bonus for having a baby that weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

Kappen cashed in on her son, Parker John VanWormer, who was born Oct. 4. She got a check for $711 from Garb-Ko Inc., which operates the 7-Eleven store where she has worked part time for 18 months.

Saginaw-based Garb-Ko pays the $711 bonus to any employee giving birth to a 7-pound, 11-ounce baby. It operates 90 stores in Michigan, nine in Indiana and eight in Ohio.

"It's not something that happens every day, but through the 26 years that I have been with this company, it has happened several times," said Larry Hauck, the company's marketing director.

Kappen, 22, of Bay City, said she hoped to use the gift money to open a bank account for Parker and pay some bills.

"I had no idea they were going to give me a check," said Kappen. "I never knew that they had a program like that."