After witnessing a pregnant employee at an Atlanta McDonald’s drive-thru become the victim of a totally unprovoked attack from another customer, one woman took it upon herself to help show the worker some much-needed kindness.
As TODAY reported, Feroza Syed started a Venmo fundraiser for the employee named Bryanna which ended up raising almost $2,000 in less than 24 hours, and also set up a baby registry to help the mom-to-be before she’s due to deliver in February.
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Syed first posted about the attack at McDonald’s on December 4 and described watching a man throw his soda at Bryanna.
As she wrote in her Facebook post , the man apparently didn’t receive “what he wanted” from the worker and decided the only way to react would be to toss his beverage at her.
“Tried to get out of my car to kick his ass, but I was blocked in,” Syed wrote. “Y’all do better.”
The Atlanta real estate broker later described the heartbreaking sight of the employee “covered in ice and soda and syrup.”
It was so obnoxious to me that I couldn’t even figure out what was happening,” Syed told TODAY of the attack. “I’ve never seen anyone behave that way, and I used to work in food services, but especially to do that with everything that’s going on was just awful.”
When it was her turn to pull up to the drive-thru window, Syed gave Bryanna a cash tip and offered to call the police to report the cruel attack.
She later returned to the same McDonald’s location to provide the man’s license plate number and she realized that Bryanna was pregnant.
It was then that Syed decided she could do more to help this poor employee not only feel appreciated following such a disgusting encounter, but also help support her and her baby, too. So she started a Venmo fundraiser.
“I thought, let me do something nice for her,” Syed recalled to TODAY. “When I walked in the first time, she was covered in syrup all over her shoes, pants, and shirt, so I assumed maybe I could raise $300 or $400 for her to buy something nice or get her hair done or something, but by 24 hours later people had donated $1,700.”
Syed was able to meet with Bryanna in person to present her with the cash which moved the mom-to-be to tears.
As it turns out, Bryanna hasn’t been able to go back to work while McDonald’s looks into the soda incident and she “needed [the money] badly.”
“She’s so sweet, has a good head on her shoulders, and could really use the funds since she’s not allowed to work right now,” Syed wrote in a Facebook post alongside photos of her and Bryanna. “When we talk about how to give back to our essential workers who put their lives on the line, feeding, housing, shopping, and providing healthcare for us remember that anyone can do what I did.”
If you wish to donate money to help Bryanna during this time, her Cashapp is @dakotadior21, or you could also donate to her Target baby registry by searching for the Bryanna Wheeler and Demetrius Gamble registry online.
h/t: TODAY
