CARROLLTON, Texas — In the past, whenever Tracey Ramirez and her boyfriend, Jonas Honea, of Carrollton, ordered food through one of those food delivery apps, it left a bad taste.
“We’ve had not-so-great experiences in the past,” Ramirez said.
However, they say nothing compares to what one delivery driver did last week. Their security camera caught the guy in the act.
“I was emotional when I saw it,” Ramirez said. “Shocked first and then emotional.”
“Never had this type of experience, so yeah, I was pretty shocked,” Honea added.
Ramirez and Honea never expected the delivery driver to do something so sweet. After laying down tissue paper, he left a gift bag filled with water, a handwritten note and the poem, “Footprints in the sand.”
Ramirez posted the security video on TikTok, determined to find the guy.
“Have you ever seen taken with Liam Neesen?” Honea joked. “She was like him.”
“I will find you,” Ramirez laughed.
Eventually, they got a number and a name.
Donald Jackson, Sr. started leaving gift bags after he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure two years ago.
His Christian faith led him to pray. He promised God that if he got better, he would do more to help others, which he says helped him.
“All of that positive energy was filling me back up and I was feeling happy,” Jackson said. “I was like, ‘ok, so the more I do for somebody else the better I’m gonna feel? Oh, it’s on!’”
Even more surprising than the gifts he leaves behind are his satisfied customers. Jackson has made nearly 9,000 deliveries with no negative reviews. His rating is still 100%.
Despite that, Jackson sought no recognition and never really got any.
Until Ramirez finally tracked him down and invited him over for dinner.
She explained that 3 million people saw the video of Jackson’s delivery, and a lot of them thought he deserved a big tip.
So, Ramirez started an online crowdfunding campaign and together, they pitched in to give Jackson nearly $6,000.
When she presented him with the amount at dinner, Jackson was speechless, but Ramirez and Honea say he deserves every penny.
“How many lives is he impacting, and how many lives is he changing,” Ramirez asked.
“I hope this makes him feel half as good as he made us feel,” Honea added.
“I just wanted to put a little hope in these people’s heart, a little joy in their soul and a little peace in their minds, just for a good minute,” Jackson said. “That’s all I wanted to do.”
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