A 78-Year-Old DoorDash Driver Dropped an Order Off at a Woman’s Home. Days Later, She’d Raised Over $500k So He Could Retire

“It’s taking a lot of pressure off of us… and making life livable once again,” Richard Pulley said of the huge amount raised by the campaign

NEED TO KNOW

• A Tennessee woman started a GoFundMe campaign for 78-year-old Richard Pulley after she saw doorbell footage of him delivering her DoorDash order
• Two days later, strangers had donated more than $500,000 for the man and his wife, Brenda
• “I love this man,” Brittany Smith, who organized the campaign, told NBC affiliate WSMV

When a 78–year-old DoorDash driver dropped off a Starbucks order to the stoop of a woman’s Tennessee home, she decided to start a fundraiser. Just two days later, strangers had donated more than $500,000 so the elderly man and his wife could return to retirement.

While speaking during an on-air interview with NBC affiliate WSMV, Richard Pulley said of the campaign, "We appreciate every one of them."

Richard and his wife, Brenda, headed to a restaurant in Manchester to meet the organizer of the GoFundMe page, Brittany Smith, and her daughter for the first time.

“It’s taking a lot of pressure off of us,” he told the outlet of the amount raised, adding, “And making life livable once again.”

When Brenda lost her job, Richard came out of retirement to help supplement their income, according to the outlet. For more than a year, the couple worked together making deliveries.

“When you’re past your mid-70s, there’s not exactly a line of people waiting to hire you,” Brenda told WSMV of turning to DoorDash for employment. To earn extra income, Brenda would drive and Richard would deliver the food to homes throughout the area. 

During a recent delivery, on Tuesday, March 10, Smith captured Richard on her doorcam using the handrail to gingerly walk up her stoop, one step at a time, before carefully dropping off her order at her door. She posted the video to social media with a plea.

“Help me find this precious man!” she wrote on Facebook, adding the link to the donation page. “Why is he having to DoorDash 😭😭😭 his name is Richard! Help me find him.” 

In a later update, Smith shared that she’d located her delivery driver.

“He is precious and he is not working because he wants to,” she wrote. “He’s working [because] becaue he has to.” 

Just days later, she met with the Pulleys to share that people had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help them both. 

“I don’t know. It’s just I love this man,” Smith told WSMV.

Both Brenda and Richard were shocked by how generous people had been.

“It’s just really difficult to believe that there’s that many people that are that generous to try to help us,” Brenda, who has struggled to cover living expenses and thousands of dollars of medical costs each year, told the outlet. “People that don’t even know us.”

As of Friday, March 13, the GoFundMe had garnered more than $532,000. 

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The money will help the longtime couple slow down, and enjoy their time together.

​​”I just can’t believe that someone would be that caring to set this up for us,” Brenda told WSMV of Smith.

PEOPLE has reached out to Smith for comment.

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