When Newey delivered a large pineapple pizza to Gladys Valdez a few weeks ago with a smile and struck up a conversation – saying “Hi, gorgeous!” – Valdez was completely charmed. Usually, she said, the delivery guys would just say hello and give her a receipt.
“He was so personable, really chatty and just super sweet and genuine,” said Valdez, 32, an artist who makes eyelash extensions and t-shirts.
She spoke to her husband Carlos Valdez, 34, about the friendly delivery man and even showed him the camera footage of the doorbell. In the video, Newey tells him that he has passed by his house countless times over the decades on his way to his nearby church.
“He takes the time to talk to you a bit about himself and get to know you,” said Carlos Valdez, who runs Rooster’s Brewing Co. in Ogden, Utah. “I don’t know of any pizza delivery guy who takes the time to do this.”
Carlos Valdez was so impressed with Newey’s kindness and seriousness – and the fact that he delivered pizza at his age – that he posted the doorbell camera footage to TikTok.
His followers worshiped Newey. They left tens of thousands of “hearts” and comments including “Oh my gosh my heart just melted” and “OMG I love her and want to give her a giant hug.”
The Valdez family have ordered pizza several times and have asked Newey to be the delivery guy. They posted two more doorbell videos, including one that got over two and a half million views.
Newey, who had never seen TikTok before, was becoming one of its stars.
Carlos Valdez wanted to do something nice for Newey. He was, after all, 89 years old and delivered pizza to homes.
Valdez decided to crowdfund on Newey’s behalf via a Venmo link on his TikTok page, and within 24 hours, he had raised over $ 1,000. Donations ranged from a single dime – you can actually donate just a dime on Venmo – to $ 500. Thousands of people donated small amounts of a dollar or less. All of this amounted to over $ 12,000.
Then came the surprise delivery. Carlos Valdez did this by flipping the script over to Newey.
First, he called Papa John’s and asked for the cheapest menu in the restaurant – chicken wings for around $ 10 – and demanded that Newey be the one delivering it. When Newey came by, Carlos Valdez gave him a $ 20 tip and told him that the internet had fallen head over heels for him and the community had a surprise for him. Newey gave him his coordinates, so that Valdez could deliver the surprise to him.
They agreed to meet on September 22 at Newey’s mobile home, where he was waiting for something like a t-shirt, Valdez said. Instead, when Newey opened the door to his mobile home, Valdez was standing there, holding an empty pizza box, which he had filled with an envelope full of all the cash – $ 12,069.71.
Newey was flabbergasted and his eyes filled with tears.
In a now-viral TikTok video, a shocked Newey yells in glee, “How can I say thank you? I do not know what to say!
As a bonus, Newey got a T-shirt that Gladys Valdez designed for him. He shows a caricature of himself and his signature phrase: “Hellooo, are you looking for a pizza?” A sticker of the same image was on the surprise pizza box.
Since the initial fundraiser which raised $ 12,000, people have donated $ 8,000 for Newey. Carlos Valdez interrupted him and says he will transfer the money to Newey. But Valdez has created a new Venmo account where he is no longer the middleman and donations will go directly to Newey, he said.
Several days after the cash delivery, Newey reflects on his good fortune.
“It’s beautiful,” Newey told the Washington Post. “I mean, who does that kind of tip?”
Newey typically works about 30 hours a week, Monday through Saturday, delivering pizza. He got the job 14 months ago when his social security earnings were not enough to cover his living expenses, including his used 2016 Mercedes-Benz GLK. With his new windfall, Newey paid off the roughly $ 3,000 he owed on his car, as well as some other debts he owed.
Newey, a retired salesperson, is from the Ogden area of Utah. He worked as a kitchen utensil seller in the 1950s in the DC area, where he lived in apartments in Arlington, Falls Church and Alexandria, Va. He then spent 26 years in Gridley, Calif. and work for National Merchandising, and he received both a BA and an MBA from Brigham Young University.
Newey – who is divorced with five daughters and two sons – has spent time overseas as a Mormon missionary in China and Africa. As a boy, Newey was a competitive skier, and he went on to teach skiing; About four years ago he gave up skiing because it was too difficult physically.
Now, in his delivery job, Newey enjoys interacting with customers and making jokes. He puts pizzas in his Mercedes-Benz, while wearing Papa John’s shirt and hat.
“I tip my hat to people,” Newey said. “And I’m like, ‘Hey, there’s a silver haired driver in a black limo delivering pizza to you!’ “
He explained, “I try to make people feel good and I like the conversation.”
Valdez said his TikTok followers couldn’t get enough of Newey. He deserves the attention and the gift, said Valdez, who hopes Newey’s story inspires people to spread kindness to others.
Some people who follow Newey’s story have commented on social media that at his age Newey shouldn’t have to work; others said the situation is an indictment of the US economic system for failing to take care of its elders. Newey said he didn’t agree with those feelings.
If Newey didn’t need the extra income, he said, he would keep working as a delivery guy because he loves him.
“Oh man, fabulous,” he says of his job. “I love the people I work with and I enjoy going to people, being helpful, having a nice conversation and making new friends.
“Beautiful kids – you should see the smiles on their faces when they say, ‘Oh, we’re going to have pizza tonight!’” He said. “It is worth more than the money I make.”
