Family Makes Elderly Food Delivery Man A Millionaire After Watching Him Struggle To Deliver Their Order
Ground Picture | ShutterstockThousands of strangers came together to ensure that a 78-year-old food delivery driver would finally be able to retire with enough money and peace so he would never have to work again.
It started with Richard Pulley being seen on a Ring camera delivering a Starbucks order to the stoop of a woman's house in Tennessee. After seeing the elderly man struggle to make it up the steps, she decided to create a GoFundMe campaign to raise money so he wouldn't be forced to work long hours when he shouldn't have had to.
The family has raised almost a million dollars for the delivery driver after watching him struggle to deliver their order.
During a recent delivery, Brittany Smith's Ring camera captured Richard using the handrail to haphazardly walk up her front stoop, one step at a time, before carefully dropping off her order at her door. She posted the video to social media with a plea.
"Help me find this precious man!” she wrote on Facebook, adding the link to the donation page. “Why is he having to DoorDash? His name is Richard! Help me find him."
In an interview with TODAY, Brittany explained that her husband is a quadriplegic and chose DoorDash’s "leave at door" option, so he never interacted with the man. Brittany immediately felt like she needed to do something.
"I called my husband and was like, 'I don’t know what kind of tip you left this man, but it better have been a good one,'" Brittany told the news outlet. "And he’s like, 'Why?' and I downloaded the video and sent it to him, and he’s like, 'Oh my God, that is awful.'"
She learned why the elderly food delivery driver was forced out of retirement.
Richard explained that he sold insurance and retired 13 years ago, but after his wife, Brenda, lost her job, he went back to work delivering food. Sometimes for 12 hours a day.
"When she left, it really put a pinch on us to pay bills," he said. "I had gotten lazy. You know, when we get 65 and retire … I wasn’t doing a lot, but all of a sudden, I had to get to work."
"They are the most genuine people I have ever met," Brittany added, sharing that she had visited Richard at home to give him an additional $200 cash tip but felt that her work wasn’t done. "He genuinely loves and cares for her, and she genuinely loves and cares for him."
After the video was posted, many people were clambering to figure out how they could personally help Richard as well. Brittany's GoFundMe page, titled "Give Richard a Chance to Rest Again," had only been up for a week, but it managed to rake in over $957,000 from more than 32,000 donors.
After seeing the story, DoorDash even thanked Richard for his work and added another $20,000 to the campaign.
Considering that roughly 1 in 5 people aged 65 and over are still in the labor force, Richard getting support from people to actually be able to retire comfortably is a heartwarming endeavor that doesn't happen often.
For many older adults, retirement just isn't a guaranteed chapter of their lives. It's become a privilege instead. Which is why the generosity of strangers who've now allowed Richard to finally step away from working these long days feels so meaningful.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
