upworthy

fast food

Community

Stranger raises $180k for Burger King employee after he works shift still in graduation gear

He cried when he found out the fundraiser reached $6,000.

Mykale Baker GoFundMe

Stranger raises $180k for student working at Burger King

It's not uncommon for high school kids to work fast food jobs after school and on the weekends. Typically, when a student works while still attending high school, they usually take days off for special occasions like homecoming, prom, athletic obligations, and graduation. One student, Mykale Baker, took time off for his high school graduation but decided to head into work while still wearing his medals and graduation stole.

The sight of a clearly recent graduate working the grill at Burger King moved Maria Mendoza, who shared a short clip expressing pride for the teen's work ethic on social media. After some prompting from people who saw the video, she created a GoFundMe to help the hard-working teen pay for college. There were a couple of problems with the plan: Mendoza didn't know the teen personally, she hadn't spoken to him, and thus she wasn't sure if he was even planning to go to college.

Burger King; high school graduation; Mykale Baker GoFundMe; GoFundMe; paying for college; college; kindness of strangersMykale Baker working after graduation.Mykale Baker GoFundMe

That didn't stop the stranger from doing what she could to make sure she helped the new graduate. Mendoza started the GoFundMe and it quickly surpassed it's $5,000 goal so she went back to Burger King a few days later to find the teen and show him how much people donated. At the time, the Georgia teen and his mother were brought to tears at the generosity; the campaign was sitting at just above $6,000 then.

Baker admitted to 11 Alive he wasn't sure what he was going to do after high school due to the lack of funds, but he was contemplating going into a trade. The story has since gone viral, which has resulted in even more donations surpassing the updated goal of $60k in just over a week. It is currently sitting at $187k with more donations pouring in by the minute.

Burger King; high school graduation; Mykale Baker GoFundMe; GoFundMe; paying for college; college; kindness of strangersMykale Baker and Maria Mendoza smilingMykale Baker GoFundMe

Mendoza writes in the fundraiser description, "While many graduates spent the night celebrating with friends and family, one young man quietly showed the world what determination looks like. Just after receiving his diploma—still proudly wearing his medals—he reported to his shift at Burger King. He didn’t do it for attention. He doesn’t even know his story went viral. But thousands of people were moved by his dedication, humility, and work ethic."

The woman attended the high school graduation to see her daughter graduate and like many others, she stopped to get a bite to eat after the ceremony, which is where she spotted Baker. Turns out that the graduate wasn't even scheduled to work. He noticed the late night rush of customers after graduation and wanted to help his work family out by hopping behind the counter to clear the influx of orders. As for how he feels about the kindness he's been shown, he's thankful.

“I just want to say thank you to my parents and all the people that see the good in me and believe in me, and donated all that money to me,” Baker tells 11 Alive.

People who donated left encouraging words and kind wishes for his future with one person writing, "Mykale, Your work ethic and grind is contagious. We are rooting for you and investing in your future. You already have a strong foundation to succeed. I hope you take this opportunity to pursue higher education in a career that will bring you joy and a generous salary. -First Generation College Grad from Fresno, California."

"Congratulations, Mykale! You’re the true inspiration of hard work and dedication. Wishing you a life filled with endless blessings," another says.

Burger King; high school graduation; Mykale Baker GoFundMe; GoFundMe; paying for college; college; kindness of strangersMykale Baker in cap and gownMykale Baker GoFundMe

"What an incredible young man! I am so proud of you and your accomplishments. Hard working and intelligent and kind. May God continue blessing you. You have a bright future ahead. The sky is the limit. Don't settle for anything less than you deserve. Congrats on graduating high school! Good luck to you young king. Your parents must be so proud. They did an outstanding job with you!" someone else shares.

One person shares advice, "I’m proud of you Mykale. There will always be needs around you … and it’s not uncommon that when people get a little money one of two things happen; first, people with needs show up, and second, people may treat you with contempt rather than celebrate with you. Just take these funds and accelerate your future. You already have the drive — just don’t let the critics pull you down at this pivotal moment. You’re going places my friend and I hope to be able to see what God does in your life."

From Your Site Articles
mykale baker gofundme
Health

Shocking photo shows the amount of sugar in ketchup. Can this be true?

This makes ketchup look like candy.

via Cotton bro studio/Pexels and Humuask/Pixabay

There's a lot of sugar in ketchup.

To say that Americans have a sweet tooth is an understatement. According to a study of 54 countries published by World Population Review, American sugar consumption is the highest in the world at 126 grams per day. That’s the equivalent of drinking three cans of Coca-Cola every day.

In comparison, the average person in China consumes just 7 grams of sugar daily.

Not surprisingly, this heavy sugar consumption has led to an obesity crisis. As of 2020, 42% of Americans were obese. The country’s obesity rate has increased by 26% since 2008.

The tricky thing about the American diet is that a lot of foods that don’t necessarily taste sweet to us are saturated with sugar.

A recent tweet by Josiah Hughes received over 5 million views because it showed the shocking amount of sugar in the average bottle of Heinz ketchup. The image shows an empty bottle of Heinz ketchup that is about a third full of sugar. The image seemed like an exaggeration because ketchup isn’t overly sweet. It has a tangy, savory, acidic and smooth flavor with a hint of spice.

But this photo makes a bottle of ketchup look more like a candy bar.

“The powerful visual shows how much sugar is in 400ml of Heinz Ketchup. No wonder I feel sick when I consume a whole bottle,” Hughes joked in the tweet.

The tweet’s popularity inspired Snopes, one of the internet’s most popular fact-checking sites, to investigate the claim. Is a bottle of Heinz ketchup roughly a third sugar?

To fact-check the claim, Snopes purchased two 14-ounce bottles of Heinz ketchup and referenced the nutrition information on the product label. The math was pretty simple. The average bottle of Heinz ketchup contains 391 grams of ketchup, of which 92 grams of it are sugar. That means that the ketchup is roughly 24% sugar. Snopes ranked the claim true: “A viral tweet offers a roughly accurate visual representation of the amount of sugar in a bottle of Heinz ketchup.”

“The vast majority of the product's sugar content comes from both high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup, both of which are liquids,” the fact-check reads. A big reason why American foods are so saturated with high fructose corn syrup is that it is cheap because the government subsidizes it.

Many health complications can come with overconsuming high fructose corn syrup. A major problem is diabetes.

"Chronic overconsumption of high fructose corn syrup causes an increase in fat production and worsens insulin sensitivity," Jennifer Feda, Clinical Nutrition Manager at the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain, tells Hartford Hospital. "Even a small change like not drinking regular soda is beneficial. Limiting processed foods, in general, will not only help you limit intake of high fructose corn syrup, but also your intake of unhealthy fats, which is a bonus."

Although the image of the sugar-filled ketchup bottle is shocking, it’s a wake-up call to many Americans about the dangers posed by the products we consume every day. The more transparent that companies and watchdogs can be about what’s really in our food, the better chance we all have to make healthier choices.

From Your Site Articles
fast food
Popular

Former McDonald's employee admits to giving everyone an extra nugget and now he's a hero

BXGD / Flickr and Cody Bondarchuk / Twitter

Sometimes the smallest gesture can turn your entire day around. You find a $5 bill in the pockets of your jeans. There's no traffic on the way home from work. Or by some divine intervention, you get 11 chicken McNuggets in your 10-piece box.

Of course, if you've ever had such a blessing, you know your first thought is, "Must be some sort of mistake."

But do you return the extra McNugget? Nope. You don't even feel an ounce of guilt for it. You dunk it in barbecue sauce and relish it like a gift from the gods.

A former McDonald's employee in Edmonton, Canada let the world know that sometimes an extra McNugget is not a mistake and he's become a viral hero.

Cody Bondarchuk is being hailed as the "Robin Hood of McNuggets" after admitting in a tweet on November 15 that he intentionally gave thousands of customers an extra McNuggets in the two-and-a-half years he worked for the burger giant.

His admission invoked a passionate response on Twitter.

But Bondarchuk doesn't want to be called a hero. You deserved that extra McNugget, dammit.

RELATED: 17 people with 'I want to talk to your manager' parents reveal their most embarrassing moments

Bondachuk says he's not the only McDonald's employee who had zero issue with stealing from the multi-billion dollar company and giving it to his hungry customers.

"It was something that a lot of my coworkers did as well," he told CTV News. "It was really easy to overfill them without it looking weird when it was on the delivery line, and of course there are no cameras on the kitchen line."

So he never got caught.

He admits that he must have given away around $1,600 worth of free chicken.

In just six days, his tweet received 900,000 favorites and 80,000 retweets. It's even attracted the attention of a billionaire businessman.

"I saw that Elon Musk liked it, which is very cool," he said.

RELATED: This debate over the minimum-wage is going viral after a blunt commenter set the record straight

Bondarchuk hopes that his new reputation as a champion of the working man helps him with his political ambitions, to run for Edmonton City Council in the next municipal election.

"Certainly I don't want a platform just based on nuggets," he said. "But anything that gets my name out there, I'm very happy about, because a lot of those things rooted in working-class support is where the platform will go."

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Democracy

A teenager took advantage of Popeyes' long chicken sandwich lines by registering people to vote

via dllegrande / Instagram

Earlier this month, Cajun fried-chicken restaurant Popeyes rolled out its first nationwide chicken sandwich, and it kicked off a heated debate on social media: Which chicken sandwich is better, Popeyes or Chick-fil-A?

The sandwich is getting rave reviews for its large friend chicken breast, brioche bun, and two pickles.

People have been flocking to Popeyes to find out for themselves and many are experiencing long lines or can't get the sandwich because its sold out.

While the folks at Popeyes are obviously seeing dollar signs, 17-year-old David Ledbetter saw it as an opportunity to create social change.

On Saturday, Ledbetter took advantage of the long lines at a Popeyes in Charlotte, North Carolina by asking people to register to vote as they waited. According to reports, he was able to register 16 people.

RELATED: 7 secrets to raising awesome, functional teenagers

"I decided to register people to vote after I saw there was a lack of young people politically involved," Ledbetter told CNN. "I believe that it is our duty to vote as American citizens and it would be wrong not to exercise our political voice."

Ledbetter came up with the idea after talking with Stephanie Sneed, an attorney running for a position on the local school board.

RELATED: NRA lobbyist asking how to tell a 10-year-old she can't have her pink assault rifle is peak NRA

"Because he's young, he has a new perspective on candidates engaging with young people," Sneed said. "He's already engaged and it's in his makeup."

"I like engaging with the community and I have aspirations with helping people and making society better as a whole," Ledbetter said.

Ledbetter is setting a great example for his fellow North Carolinians by encouraging them to register to vote. North Carolina is a swing state that'll be pivotal in the 2020 election. In 2016, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton 49.8% to 46.2% in the state.

Joe Biden has a large lead amongst Democrats in the state, polling at 37.5%. Bernie Sanders (18.5%) and Elizabeth Warren (14%) round off the top three.

Biden also wins in a hypothetical matchup versus Trump in North Carolina. Real Clear Politics has Biden with a 51.3% to 43.7% lead.

Related Articles Around the Web
Trending Stories