This week, a Burger King employee went viral on social media after revealing the lackluster goody bag he says he got for 27 years of perfect attendance.
However, while his years of service were appreciated quite as he would have hoped, the employee's efforts do seem to have caught the eye of someone else; actor David Spade.
The Saturday Night Live alum was clearly moved by the employee's story - so much so that he gave him a hefty cash donation.
Kevin Ford, 54, has worked as a cook and cashier at the Burger King in a Las Vegas airport for almost 30 years. Earlier this week, he received a goody bag from HMS Host - the company from which BK hires staff - in recognition of him working there for 27 years without missing work.
However, Ford was disappointed when - upon opening the bag - he found that it contained what looked like things "they had lying around." This included a bag of Reese's, a Starbucks reusable cup, two pens, and one movie ticket.
In an interview with TMZ, Ford stressed that he is still grateful for the gesture. "I'm happy about anything, I'm thankful for anything I get, I'm not that type of person, believe me. I've been through a lot," he said, adding: "It's a great company, you know, I've been there 27 years."
"But like most big corporations, they've kind of lost touch with their workers, and through Covid and whatever, they started cutting out programs," he continued.
Ford went on to recall how "we used to get cheques for 20 years, and that's what I actually thought that movie ticket was. I was like 'hey, they finally gave me my card', and then I saw it was not even two movie tickets – it was one."
In the wake of his video's success, Ford's daughter Seryna set up a GoFundMe page to try to raise a little extra money for her dad's retirement and so he could visit his grandkids.
So far, the fundraiser has been a huge success. As well as receiving donations from people around the world, it also attracted one very generous celebrity's attention - comedian and actor David Spade.
After making a $5,000 donation to the GoFundMe, Spade sent Ford a personal message congratulating him on 27 years of service and saying "keep up the good work" per TMZ.
Ford was ecstatic, writing back to thank Spade and joking: "I think I might be able to take a day off." The Grown Up's star replied: "Wait till year 30" with a laughing emoji.
Including Spade's generous $5,000, Ford's GoFundMe has raised over $39,000, with which he's hoping to visit his grandkids and buy himself a new car.
After the video of Ford opening his goody bag went viral, a spokesperson for Burger King has since responded, explaining: "This video depicts a Team Member in receipt of a peer-to-peer reward in recognition of a short-term positive performance/experience."
"The franchisee offers its Team Members a robust employee recognition program, which includes the recognition of tenure milestones and monetary awards," they added per TMZ.
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