A group of UPS employees banded together to buy a car for their coworker after they found out he was walking 11 miles a day for work.
In order to provide for his daughter, Trenton Lewis had no choice but to take the more than three hour journey in the middle of the night.
The 21-year-old would start walking from his home in downtown Little Rock just before midnight so that he could be on time for his 4am shift at UPS.
‘It will probably take me two-and-a-half or three hours,’ Lewis, who has never missed a shift in the seven months he’s been there and never been late to work, told KATV.
A group of UPS employees banded together to buy a car for their coworker, Trenton Lewis (left and right), 21, after they found out he was walking 11 miles to work every morning
In order to provide for his daughter, Lewis had to no choice but to take the more than three hour journey in the middle of the night. He’s pictured sitting in his new car that cost a little under $2,000
Lewis said his job became more important to him after his daughter (pictured) was born. ‘When I had my daughter, I knew I had to step up. I didn’t have a job when she was born,’ said Lewis
He would leave his house on Ringo and walk down Roosevelt Road to get to the UPS center. That’s about five-and-a-half miles away. He would then take this journey back home after his shift was over.
Lewis, who loads trucks at UPS, would force himself out of bed and every night in the rain or cold, and even through some rough parts of town, just to get to work on time.
‘I had music in my head. I was just walking, not worried about nothing, I was just moving my feet,’ he said.
Lewis said his job became more important to him after his daughter was born.
‘When I had my daughter, I knew I had to step up. I didn’t have a job when she was born,’ said Lewis.
Help came after Patricia Bryant, who works with Lewis in the loading docks, told her husband, Kenneth Bryant, a veteran driver at UPS, about Lewis’ walk to work every day.
Lewis said he would leave his house on Ringo and walk down Roosevelt Road to get to the UPS center. That’s about five and a half miles away. He would then take this journey back home after his shift was over
Help came after Patricia Bryant, who works with Lewis in the loading docks, told her husband, Kenneth Bryant (pictured), a veteran driver at UPS, about Lewis’ walk to work every day
Bryant said he knew Lewis had to be ‘a dedicated young man to walk to work’ every day. That’s when he realized he had to start collecting donations from other workers at UPS. The group collected $1,900, bought the car and gave Lewis the keys (left)
Bryant told the station that he knew Lewis had to be ‘a dedicated young man to walk to work’ every day.
That’s when he realized he had to start collecting donations from other workers at UPS.
‘I was like, ‘It’s coming together, It’s coming together, slowly,’ said Bryant.
By the time it was all over, Bryant had collected $1,900 and found a reliable car.
Lewis would walk to his job at this UPS center every day
Now, Lewis can actually leave at a normal time to get to work. He leaves around 3.30am. He’s pictured driving from work in his car
He and several other co-workers then planned a surprise for Lewis in the parking lot of their job.
‘He just pulled some keys out of his pocket, and I’m like “That can’t be mine. Those keys cannot be mine.”
‘He brought them to me and my heart just dropped. this can’t be real,’ Lewis told the station.
Now, Lewis can actually leave at a normal time to get to work in his Saturn. He leaves around 3.30am.