The 87-year-old said he took up the DoorDash job to help pay off debt and cover basic expenses, including medication.
VANCOUVER, Wash. — What started as a wrong turn during a food delivery turned into an unexpected lifeline. 87 year old man Coming from Washington State and struggling to make ends meet.
Joe Symonds, who has been delivering for DoorDash for the past year and a half, said he never imagined the chain of events that would unfold after a recent delivery mistakenly ended up at the wrong home.
“The whole thing was really exciting,” Simmonds said, recalling the moment that would change his life.
The delivery took him to Alyona Dikiy’s home in Vancouver, Washington. Dickey was cleaning the garage and soon noticed that Symonds seemed disoriented and possibly struggling. She struck up a conversation with him and was surprised to find that Symonds was 87 years old.
“You can’t imagine your grandpa or grandma doing this,” Dickey said.
Simmonds explained that he took up the DoorDash job to help pay off debt and pay for basic expenses, including medication. While he said he appreciates the job, he noted it’s not easy, especially with the physical toll of climbing stairs during labor.
“I had some issues on flat ground where I tripped and fell,” Symonds said. “Luckily nothing serious happened.”
Moved by his story, Dickey gave Simmonds $100 in cash and urged him to rest for the rest of the day. With his permission, she also recorded a short video and shared it online, and began to fund me Designed to help him retire.
“Once it hit $400, I was like, ‘Joe, our price is like $400! You can take a few days off!'” Dikiy recalled. “Then it just kept going up, up, up.”
As of Monday, the fundraiser had surpassed $30,000, with donations coming from around the world. The rapid growth has shocked both Dickey and Simmonds, who say he has been touched by the generosity of strangers.
“I think you are some of the kindest, most wonderful people I could ever imagine,” he said. “I never thought there would be people like this – people who would give money to strangers they’ve never met.”
Dickey said the experience strengthened her belief in the kindness of others.
“I think a lot of people have a good heart,” she said.
As for Symonds, he sees Dickie as more than just a stranger he meets on his delivery route.
“She’s my angel,” he said.
