"They've Kind Of Lost Touch With Their Workers": Man Shows A 'Goodie Bag' He Received From Burger King To Celebrate 27 Years Of Loyalty

Staying loyal and going the extra mile to help your company flourish eventually has to pay off, right? We expect our efforts to lead to something good, whether it's a promotion, a pay bump, or at least some sort of genuine appreciation. But while dedicating 27 years of your life to one corporation may seem like a big deal, one Burger King employee recently found out that in fact, the opposite is true.

Kevin Ford, a 54-year-old cook and cashier who hasn’t missed a day of service, recently showed off his work anniversary gifts in a video that went viral for all the wrong reasons. The clip that was shared on TikTok shows Ford standing in the kitchen. He’s going through his goodie bag filled with bland stuff given as a token of appreciation for his nearly three decades of perfect attendance. A movie ticket, a bag of Reese’s Pieces, a Starbucks tumbler, and two packs of Lifesavers — things that amount to virtually nothing.

This whole incident deeply resonated with many people who felt both saddened and enraged about the items Ford received. Many felt let down to witness this modest recognition and believed it simply wasn’t enough. However, Ford himself later expressed gratitude for anything he gets. Read on for how the story goes and let us know what you think of it in the comments!

After going viral for opening up a small bag of gifts he received from HMS Host, the company from which Burger King hires staff, Ford said in an interview with TMZ that he was grateful for the gesture: "I'm happy about anything, I'm thankful for anything I get, I'm not that type of person, believe me. I've been through a lot."

However, the man who works at the Burger King in the Las Vegas airport said it looked like the organization sent him a load of "stuff they had laying around that they put together." He still called HMS Host a great organization to work for, but he felt a bit let down by their gifts.

"Like most big corporations, they've kind of lost touch with their workers, and through Covid and whatever, they started cutting out programs." Ford has been around the company for a long time to know that before Covid, workers would get checks for their work anniversaries. "We used to get checks for 20 years, and that's what I actually thought that movie ticket was. I was like 'hey, they finally gave me my card', and then I saw it was not even two movie tickets — it was one," he said, adding that this all seemed like "this is just too much."

People online truly appreciated and were touched by Ford’s gratitude. The worker is simply happy to have a job and doesn’t want to criticize his employer. "I’m not trying to put them on blast either, I wanna be working there for 28 years," he mentioned.

Thankfully, someone did step up and try to show the hero of this story some appreciation for his more than a quarter-century of service. His daughter, Seryna, started a GoFundMe fundraiser in a bid to give her father a better gift and help him visit his grandkids in Texas. As she explained in the description, people "shattered the original goal," and over $40,000 have already been raised in donations.

"The man in that video is my father," Seryna wrote. "He has worked at his job for 27 years and yes, he has never missed a day of work." The daughter explained that Ford had to take up this job as a single father when he gained custody of her and her older sister. Ford remarried later on, though he continued to work at HMS Host because of the health insurance.

"[It] got all four of his daughters through high school and college with full healthcare coverage. My dad continues to work here because though he does look young, he is coming up on retirement age and leaving would cost him his retirement," Seryna continued. "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."

The employee noted in the TMZ interview that he would also like to get a new car — American and hybrid. "But that’s a dream, I’m not aiming for those things. I’m just aiming to get through the next day." Moreover, the man revealed he would love to have a day off to visit his friends, have some fun and relax. Although he quickly added, "I can’t even think about a day off, I haven’t had a day off in so long." Luckily for him, it seems that sometimes dreams do become reality.

Ford got emotional while talking about this whole experience: "All the love that people are giving me is just so, so overwhelming, I just wanna thank everyone so so much." The employee added all he wants is to go to work, have fun, and make everybody’s life better, "like they’re doing to me."

A spokesperson for Burger King told TMZ, "The Burger King brand and its many franchisees nationwide are committed to recognizing and celebrating the achievements of the thousands of people serving across a wide range of roles — all dedicated to providing our Guests a world-class experience."

"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," they continued. "The franchisee offers its Team Members a robust employee recognition program, which includes the recognition of tenure milestones and monetary awards."