Since 1995, Kevin Ford has worked for Burger King in different capacities. On his 27th year of service in the fast-food's store in Las Vegas, the management decided to reward his service.
The 54-year-old received a bag of items that contained a Starbucks cup, a movie ticket, and candy. He uploaded a video thanking his managers for the gifts and his co-employees on his work anniversary, per Fox Business. Kevin Ford's gratitude video went viral on social media, and many users felt he deserved more.
Subsequently, Kevin Ford's daughter Seryna set up a GoFundMe page for her father, who worked as a cashier and cook at the burger chain. The campaign has raised no less than $328,000 as of July 4, way above the original target goal of $200.
A Dedicated Father
On the donation page, Seryna wrote: "The man in that video is my father. 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 added that, as their family grew, Ford continued to work for Burger King "because of the amazing health insurance that was provided through this employer because it was unionized."
"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," Seryna stated.
Ford was flown to New York to appear on NBC's Today show and was reunited with his grandchildren live on air after his video, and the GoFundMe both went viral, according to a story from Fortune. He was separated from his grandchildren for more than four years.
Among the roughly 11,000 contributions on GoFundMe is a $5,000 donation from actor David Spade. Spade also privately messaged Ford on Instagram.
However, Ford has no intentions to retire or take a day off for a getaway, even with the funds generated by the GoFundMe campaign. For now, he wants to spend the money for the benefit of his family.
"You never know, it's day to day but I haven't thought of anything to do with that money except to visit my grandkids for a while and maybe put some up for their college, but I'm not even thinking about that. I'm just working," Ford noted.
Burger King Claims It Honors Remarkable Employees
According to a report from LADbible, Burger King offers a 'robust employee recognition program.'
One spokesperson of the fast-food company told the media outfit that it provides its "many franchisees nationwide" are committed to recognizing the feats of the "thousands" of employees "across a wide range of roles."
"Following review with this location's franchisee, we've learned that this video depicts a Team Member in receipt of a peer-to-peer reward in recognition of a short-term positive performance/experience, the spokesperson said.
He added that the Burger King joint where Kevin Ford is employed "offers its team members a robust employee recognition program, which includes the recognition of tenure milestones and monetary awards."
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