Since most people don’t exactly like working, many of us spend our early mornings dreaming of the day when we can finally retire.
Yet at the same time, that stage in our lives that previous generations may have taken for granted seems increasingly unlikely for us as time goes on. And while it’s not impossible for other circumstances to influence this reality, the reason why usually boils down to the likelihood that we won’t have the money to stop working once we hit the age of 65.
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Of course, that’s already true for some older adults. And the strong feelings some have for how unfortunate that is has done a lot to inspire one TikToker and her followers to make life easier for one DoorDash driver.
On January 20, an Idaho woman named Annabelle Grace Stephens spotted who she referred to as “the cutest doordasher” through her doorbell’s Ring camera.
As she detailed in one of many follow-up videos , she became curious about who this was and asked the company to get her in touch with this driver.
And while his contact information wasn’t something they could divulge on their own, they said they could ask him whether he consented to having his number passed on to her.
Although the man is normally a private person, it seems Stephens’ enthusiasm won him over and she and his son were able to open a line of communication to him.
As Stephens shared in another follow-up , “He’s been working basically his entire life and has gone through a lot of hardships.”
It was for that reason that before this meeting took place, Stephens called on her followers to join forces with her and help him retire.
Because as she learned, 71-year-old Kerry (not pictured) is a security guard in addition to being a DoorDash driver who has been raising two sons on his own.
As he would tell Stephens, “My wife died in 2011 and I am a DoorDash Driver to make ends meet.”
In a GoFundMe campaign set up by Stephens, it was also revealed that his experiences with DoorDash were compounded by health issues, low basic pay of $2.50 per delivery, and the way that DoorDash’s user fees impact the likelihood of tips.
With all this in mind, Stephens’ goal was to help Kerry quit at least one of his jobs.
And just five days after her first TikTok about Kerry, Stephens’ followers delivered in a big way as they’ve raised $39,423 for him at the time of this writing.
She also posted another follow-up confirming that he’s actually receiving the donations, which are supposed to be directly deposited into his checking account by the end of each day.
It was clear that his story resonated deeply with TikTok users who had initially hoped that he was working to keep busy and not because he needed the money.
As one user said , “Sadly our elderly have to work because with the inflation and how much meds cost retirement income doesn’t cover it. My dad worked every day.”
