Pizza Delivery Driver Gets Emotional Over Tip

Close to the Thanksgiving holiday one morning in 2015, local pizza shop Gionino’s Pizzeria in Ohio received a call from a church that needed a large order filled. Though they normally weren’t open before noon, they took the order and were able to goad their driver into coming to work early.

Twenty-two-year-old Jeff Louis showed up and loaded up his car with the 7 or 8 pizzas. Once he arrived at Life Point Church in Mentor, something incredible happened to him. In this video recorded right after the delivery, he shares that someone from the church made a request of him that seemed off.

He was told to carry just one of the pizzas up to the pastor who was standing on stage in front of the congregation. As Jeff says in the video, he was “weirded out”. But that didn’t stop him from handling the order as asked. After walking onto the stage, Jeff says the pastor and church members ended up giving him a generous tip of $700.

Watch Jeff’s heartfelt reaction in the clip below, and hear why the funds couldn’t have come at a better time. According to ABC News, the church’s pastor, Ken Wright, said that he and the congregation agreed that whoever was their delivery guy would receive a tip of $100 that day. It was a way for them to gift someone for the holidays.

He also shared that Gionino’s was the only place that would deliver that early – he’d called two other places prior to them. When Jeff arrived, Pastor Wright asked the congregation if anyone else wanted to add to the tip amount. That’s when people started lining up and giving even more. The kind surprise hit Jeff in the heart and he got emotional while on stage.

Jeff recorded the video to express his gratitude to all those people who didn’t realize that their act of kindness came at a time when he needed it. It wasn’t about the money; it was that he felt strangers cared about him:

“It’s just truly amazing you know. I’ve been having such a hard time lately, just struggling to stay clean and everything, and I’m just trying to get my life back, and it just really, truly just amazes me that people that don’t even know me just wanted to help me out that much.”

Later on, it was revealed that Jeff was struggling with an addiction to pain killers following multiple surgeries. He’d just begun to seek help when this encounter happened at the church. They didn’t know him or what he was going through, but the timing was just right.

What’s sweeter is that Jeff’s manager said that when he came back to the restaurant, the first thing he did was try to share it with coworkers. After his story went viral, he was also offered a stay at a rehabilitation facility in California, with all the expenses paid. Word is, he took them up on their offer.


What do you think of Jeff’s moving story? Were you ever helped in a way like this, at just the right time in your life? Share with us in the comments!

Source:
Today