A 78-year-old DoorDash driver has become the focus of a huge fundraising effort after a customer was moved by what she saw during a delivery to her home.
On March 10, Richard Pulley dropped off a Starbucks order at Brittany Smith’s house in Tennessee.
Footage from Smith’s doorbell camera captured Richard approaching the property and showed him carefully using the handrail as he worked his way up the steps, appearing to struggle as he carried the order.
After watching the video, Smith turned to social media to try to identify him and check on his situation. In a Facebook post, she wrote: “Help me find this precious man! Why is he having to DoorDash. His name is Richard! Help me find him.”
In an interview with TODAY.com, Smith said she felt an immediate reaction when she replayed the clip from her Ring camera.
See it here:
“I open up the (Ring) camera and I see this little old man walking up my steps with a Starbucks bag and… my heart just sank,” she said.
Smith later succeeded in finding Richard and, in a follow-up shared online, explained that he wasn’t delivering by choice, but out of necessity. She said he was working because “he has to.”
Richard previously retired 15 years ago after working as an insurance salesman. However, he returned to work more than a year ago after his wife lost her job.
“My wife was working for an insurance company and they ended up letting her go,” Richard told TODAY. He added that while they receive Social Security, losing his wife’s income made finances difficult.
Wanting to help, Smith set up a GoFundMe fundraiser in his name, and donations began coming in rapidly.
Within a matter of days, the fundraiser had topped $500,000. Then, on March 20, Richard received a GoFundMe check for more than $965,000.
According to a photo update posted on the fundraising page, the check presented to him totaled $965,868.
Donations have continued since then, pushing the fundraiser to $966,744 at the time of writing—about 88 percent of its goal. Included in the total is a $20,000 contribution from DoorDash.
A DoorDash spokesperson said: “Richard’s dedication to supporting himself and his wife is truly inspiring.”
“Like many others, we were moved by his story and the outpouring of support from people across the country,” they added.
“It’s also a powerful reminder of how dashing can bring communities together, while helping people earn extra money to make life easier.”