A Burger King employee has bought himself a home thanks to his viral fame after receiving a meager goody bag from his employer in honor of not missing a day of work for 27 years.
Kevin Ford, 54, recently found fame after he was awarded a goody bag for 27 years of never calling out from his job at a Burger King branch in Los Angeles.
A video of him opening up his gift, which included a Starbucks reusable tumbler, a bag of Reese's candy, pens, and two rolls of Lifesavers amongst a whole bunch of other items, went viral after it was posted to Instagram and later reposted to Reddit in the r/ABoringDystopia thread and TikTok.
Ford, who shared his gratitude for receiving the gift in the video, also celebrated the momentous occasion with a good ol' slice of chocolate cake.
While Ford himself seemed pretty chuffed with his recognition, social media users were confused at the lack of appreciation from his employers, branding the gifts as underwhelming for such a massive milestone.
"This is bulls***," wrote one Instagram user. "Business owners do better by the people who keep your business alive. No way in hell my employee would get this after that many years of service. Y’all need to write a 100k check."
"That bag looks like they went down the street to put together with the spare change found in their pockets..." another added.
A third stated that Ford "deserved better" also writing: "That’s terrible of Burger King! You are a great employee!"
Over on TikTok, the response was similar, with many users pointing out how Burger King didn't appreciate one of their most loyal employees.
"It's so sad they did him like this but look at his positivity. This is someone that finds the good in everything. I know he will be blessed with more," this user stated while another also agreed, saying that he deserved his own Burger King franchise after showing such a great work ethic.
Thankfully, the internet didn't stop there.
Ford's daughter started a GoFundMe page off the back of all the support the 54-year-old was receiving, spreading her father's story across the globe.
Credit: GoFundMe"Hi, My name is Seryna. The man in that video is my father," she wrote in the description. "He has worked at his job for 27 years and yes, he has never missed a day of work. He originally began working at this job as a single father when he gained custody of me and my older sister 27 years ago."
She continued: "Then as our family grew and he remarried, he continued to work there because of the amazing health insurance that was provided through this employer because it was unionized. This got all four of his daughters through high school and college with full healthcare coverage.
"My dad continues to work there, because though he does look young, he is coming up on retirement age and leaving would cost him his retirement. In no way are we asking for money or is he expecting any money but if anyone feels like blessing him he would love to visit his grandchildren," she added.
Kevin Ford went viral after receiving a goody bag from Burger King. Credit: Naomi Baker/GettyFord's story touched so many people that he managed to raise a whopping $439,013, and after the platform's deductions, he walked away with $350,000, of which he has now used $117,000 of to buy himself a home.
Speaking to TMZ, the loyal employee opened up about buying his first home on December 13 in Pahrump, Nevada, just a few days before Christmas.
Kevin's new place has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and is 846 square feet with a covered front deck, fenced-in yard, and views of the surrounding mountains, as per the outlet.
As for the rest of the money, he gave a massive wad of it to his daughter to put towards a home for herself and his grandkids and put the rest into his retirement fund so that when he does eventually leave the fast food branch behind, he has a good foundation to stand on.
We love that for him!
