Single dad walked 11 miles to work, so his coworkers bought him a car
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KARK) – An Arkansas man wanting to provide for his young daughter used to walk 11 miles a day to get to and from work.
But recently, the 21-year-old UPS employee’s coworkers came together to surprise him with his first car.
Trenton Lewis says he got up in the middle of the night to walk about 5.5 miles to work. He had to be at the UPS center in Little Rock by 4 a.m.
Sometimes he would get rides, but most of the time he just walked. And then he’d walk home the same 5.5 miles.
“I don’t want to miss work at all,” he said.
While he didn’t have a car, he did have a new job.
“I wanted to be with my daughter, to be able to support her. I wanted to be a father,” Lewis said.
For the last seven months, Lewis woke up at midnight to make the trek and get to his job on time.
“I made it to work. I was never late,” Lewis said. “Doing this for my daughter, that’s all.”
“If someone has that type of determination, I’d be willing to help them,” UPS Clerk Kenneth Bryant said. “We just wanted to lend somebody a helping hand.”
Lewis didn’t tell many people how he got to the office, but Bryant found out.
“That’s a young man that wants to work and will do whatever it takes to be successful,” Bryant said.
He started asking around to see if coworkers would pitch in and buy Lewis a car.
“They were astonished that someone would get up at that time of morning, at night, and walk to work that far,” Bryant said.
To Bryant’s amazement, the others wanted to help.
“It caught on like wildfire,” Bryant explained.
Eventually, enough money was raised, and in a Facebook Live video, they surprised Lewis with keys to a car.
“This is my first car,” Lewis said. “I have great, awesome coworkers.”
“I had no idea,” he added. “I guess they are very good secret holders.”
Lewis has his keys, a UPS keychain and a new car thanks to his coworkers.
“I knew things were going to get better if I kept coming to work, so that’s just what I did,” Lewis said.
The car cost about $2,000.
Lewis’s coworkers say not everyone who gave money knew Lewis, they just heard the story and wanted to help out. They say a couple of retirees also gave money for the car.