Burger King Employee Who Received 'Goodie Bag' For Never Missing A Day Of Work In 27 Years Buys First Home Thanks To The Kindness Of Strangers
A Starbucks cup, candy and a movie ticket were his reward for 27 years of his life.
Prostock-studio / Shutterstock A viral video of one Burger King employee receiving a few small gifts for his lengthy career at the company has caused outrage on social media and a debate about how companies treat their employees.
The Burger King employee received a goodie bag for never missing work in 27 years.
In the video posted online, the employee can be seen receiving the goodie bag, which included numerous small gifts such as candy, a movie ticket, pens and other similar small items.
The employee, whose name is Kevin Ford, can be seen opening his goodie bag in the video where he constantly expresses how grateful he is for all of the gifts.
"People say you can't keep workers nowadays, even worked through the early covid days, never missing a day of work," the video's caption reads, detailing Ford's dedication to the job. The caption also notes that Ford has worked at a Burger King located in the Las Vegas airport for 27 years.
Ford spoke to TMZ about the gift, mentioning that he got them from HMS Host, the airport franchising company which Burger King hired him from. He also mentioned that he felt those gifts were just things they found lying around and expected a bit more after working so hard for so long, but that he’s still grateful for the things he did get.
The gift prompted people online to criticize Burger King for not being more appreciative of their employees.
Numerous posts on Twitter revealed how bad people felt for Ford. One person wrote, “The whole restaurant industry turns me off. A lot of restaurants don't care about overworking their employees, getting them on for the bare minimums, makes me wonder how much they push not giving raises, the jobs are stressful too.”
Another added, “That Burger King employee who got a bag of candy and a Starbucks cup for his 27 NEVER MISSED A DAY OFF WORK years of service goes to show that these major companies do not care.”
Many people also criticized HMS Host and shared their experiences.
“Not at all surprised by the HMS Host bag. I worked for them when everything shut down for the pandemic,” another person commented. “It was ‘see you in 2 weeks’ then absolutely nothing for 8 months when I got a letter that basically said, ‘big cutbacks, if you don't hear from us in a month just assume you're fired.’”
Many internet users also started blaming Ford and questioned why he would even choose to work at Burger King for so long — that 27 years is long enough to find another job.
However, some people responded to those comments claiming how tough the job market is or that Ford might have his own reasons for staying. One user commented, “We know absolutely nothing about his life, this could genuinely be his passion, and the rest of his life has aligned in a way to allow him to continue working there.”
Ford’s daughter started a GoFundMe page for her father, which raised over $450,000 and helped him buy a house.
In the GoFundMe description, his daughter, named Seryna, mentioned that he started at Burger King because he had to take care of his two daughters as a single father and continued to work there because of their amazing healthcare plans. He can’t leave the job now as he will be retiring soon and doesn’t want to risk it.
As a result, Seryna started the GoFundMe page where people have shown immense support for Ford and his family, including actor David Spade, who donated $5,000 and joked that Ford should wait until year 30 to consider taking a break.
In December of 2023, Ford took to social to share how grateful he was for all of the donations, which he used to buy his own home.
"I wanted to show you something you made possible," Kevin said in a TikTok video, talking to his viewers while showing off his brand-new home.
According to TMZ, Ford's purchased the three-bed, two-bath Pahrump, Nevada home for $177,000. He also gave his daughter a portion of the proceeds to put towards a home for her and his grandkids and put the rest away for retirement.
"Now my kids and my grandkids have a place to come visit me," Ford said. "I just want to thank everybody for being part of this miracle."
Sanika Nalgirkar, M.F.A. is a writer who covers entertainment & news, lifestyle, and pop culture topics.