Retiree Richard Pulley, 78, forced to work as DoorDash driver to make ends meet goes viral as kind strangers raise $500K

A cup of coffee came with some extra dough.A 78-year-old Tennessee retiree forced to work as a DoorDash driver with his unemployed wife to afford medication went viral after kind strangers raised nearly $500,000 for the down-on-their-luck couple.Richard Pulley was captured on doorbell video seemingly struggling to deliver a Starbucks order to Brittany Smith’s doorstep in Manchester on Tuesday morning.Pulley slowly walked up the pathway toward Smith’s home before hesitating for a moment in front of the steps leading to the front porch.The delivery driver finds his footing and slowly bends down to drop off the order just before 11 a.m., according to the heartbreaking video shared to Smith’s TikTok.After watching the video of the determined delivery driver, Smith sent out to locate “Richard the Starbucks Delivery Man,” and within hours, internet sleuths identified the elderly man as Pulley.The septuagenarian revealed that he and his wife, Brenda, have been tag-teaming DoorDash deliveries for over a year after she was fired from her job “at no fault of her own,” with Brenda driving and Pulley making the food drop-offs.“When you’re past your mid-70s, there’s not exactly a line of people waiting to hire you,” Brenda told WSMV.“With just one income in the family, you have to push … Just losing that, we had to supplement it,” Pulley added.After learning about the heartbreaking story, Smith created a GoFundMe for the couple to “help Richard go back into retirement!!”As of early Friday, the crowdsourcing campaign raised nearly $500,000.

Smith met with the Pulleys on Thursday to show them the fundraiser at a local burger joint.Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.

Please provide a valid email.By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Never miss a story.The couple, who’ve been married for over 56 years, were left in shock by the generosit...