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A Burger King employee who achieved viral fame for never missing a day of work during 27 years at his job was able to purchase a home due to a fundraising campaign launched for him by his daughter.
The saga began in June 2022 when Burger King employee Kevin Ford posted a video to TikTok of the gifts his managers purchased him as a thank you for his 27 years of service: a movie ticket, a Starbucks cup, a bag of Reese’s pieces, two packs of Life Savers, two pens, a lanyard and two keychains.
After the video went viral, with many TikTok users expressing disbelief at the cheap gifts, Ford’s daughter posted the GoFundMe, which has since raised $446,899 towards a $450,000 goal, $350,000 of which Ford was able to take for himself after GoFundMe took its own cut, according to TMZ.
Ford used the money to purchase a three-bedroom two-bath home for $177,000 in Pahrump, Nevada, near the California border. The 846-square-foot house includes a covered front deck and a fenced-in yard with a view of the surrounding mountains.
“I know it’s not a mansion, but it’s mine,” he said in a recent TikTok tour of the house. “I want to thank everyone all around the world for what you’ve done for me, something that I thought would never be possible for me: homeownership.”
Ford says he will put the rest of the GoFundMe cash into a retirement account and give a chunk of it to his daughter.
Ford originally began working at Burger King as a single father in the late 1990s and stayed with the job because of the health benefits it provided, according to his GoFundMe page’s description.
He still works at Burger King but told TMZ he missed one day recently to appear on the Today show.