I think that the purpose was not being famous or recognized but just having more kindness.
The fact is that a lot of Tor users don't even know which relay they are using and how to get the informations of the exit relay they're using, meaning that they will  actually never thank anyone of running exit or middle relay...

Hoping something is not good for the mind, if you don't, and receive some "thank you" it will be a great gift.

I'm running a middle relay, and I know that noone will thank me, and I don't care because thank to us, people will use our relay to have internet-informations without censorship or relaying censitive informations from countries where dictature is in place for exemple...