A Tennessee woman says she is “floored” after she launched a GoFundMe that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for an elderly DoorDash driver.
Brittany Smith of Manchester, Tennessee, told The Independent she launched a GoFundMe for a 78-year-old man named Richard after she saw him “struggling” to climb stairs while delivering a DoorDash order earlier this week. The GoFundMe, titled “Give Richard a Chance to Rest Again,” has raised more than $510,000 as of Friday.
“I had no idea that I was going to gain that much traction,” she said.
Smith called the response “overwhelming,” but said she’d “do it over again in a heartbeat.” She hopes the funds will help Richard go back into retirement.
“Richard said he's not slept in two days because he can't quit watching the GoFundMe,” she added.
The saga began Tuesday, when Smith discovered her daughter’s father had ordered Starbucks for her.
“I was actually mad about it, because he often orders Starbucks for her, but we try to do it as more of a reward, and this was the third time he had ordered for her in the week,” she said. “So, I see the Ring doorbell go off, and I'm like, you've got to be kidding me, he had Starbucks sent again.”
When Smith clicked on the Ring doorbell app, she saw a “little old man walking up the steps.”
“This poor guy is struggling to get up my stairs to deliver my very capable daughter her Starbucks,” she said. “My daughter's dad is a quadriplegic, so he often has things sent to the house because he can't physically go get them.”
The 20-second clip shows the elderly man, dressed in a red shirt and khakis, gripping the handrail and climbing a small set of stairs before dropping the delivery at the front door.
After watching the footage, Smith told her daughter’s father to send a bigger tip through the app — but he wasn’t able to. That’s when she turned to social media for help.
“I posted the video literally just looking for this man's name,” she said.
A Facebook user, who recognized Richard because he had regularly delivered DoorDash orders to her office, reached out and passed along his full name, Smith said.
Smith declined to provide Richard’s last name to The Independent, and said he asked her to withhold it.
She was able to track down Richard’s address, and even verified that the car in his driveway matched the one she saw on the Ring doorbell. Then, she knocked on his door and offered him a $200 tip.
“Before he accepted the money … he wanted to make sure that I was going to be OK if he accepted that money from me,” she said.
Richard explained that he started delivering for DoorDash after his wife, who requires “very expensive” medication, lost her job through no fault of her own, Smith said. After paying for their necessities, the couple didn’t have enough left over, so Richard started using the delivery app to supplement their income, Smith added.
When Smith returned home, the footage had gone viral on TikTok, and countless commenters were asking how they could help. That inspired her to launch the GoFundMe on Wednesday morning — and her phone “has not stopped buzzing” since, she said.
GoFundMe is “working directly with the fundraiser organizer to help ensure all funds safely reach the beneficiary,” a spokesperson for the platform told The Independent. More than 12,000 people had donated as of Thursday evening.
“He's more precious in person, so I'm glad that I got to meet him,” Smith said.
DoorDash, a food delivery app, allows users to both place orders and sign up to be delivery drivers. These drivers must be 18 years or older, have a vehicle and provide a valid form of ID, according to the app’s website.
The Independent has contacted DoorDash for comment.
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