A UPS driver’s act of kindness in Georgia goes viral
Jessica Kitchel was feeling isolated and emotional as she recovered at her Georgia home after delivering her baby through a Caesarean section.
As a UPS driver delivered her package of baby formula, he earnestly looked into the Google Nest doorbell camera: “If this is the ‘It’s a Boy house … I hope all is going well with your newborn,” he said. “I had a child at around the same time you guys did, and I just hope everything is going well. God bless and happy holidays.”
“I was just so blown away by the fact … that he took the time to stop and do it, and more so that he was so observant that he remembered this was the ‘It’s a Boy house with the stork,” said Kitchel of Roswell, Ga., about 20 miles from Atlanta.
The oversized stork lawn sign announcing the new baby was in front of the home she shares with her husband, Mack, after their son, Chancy, was born on Nov. 14.
“I just played it back and saw his message was just completely blown away by it,” Jessica said. “I think I needed it the most at that moment. Just encouragement.”
Kitchel decided she wanted to thank the UPS driver who went out of his way to wish her well.
Kitchel posted the video on Instagram right after the Dec. 3 delivery. It was viewed more than 76,000 times — and she soon heard back from a UPS representative, who said someone from the local office would call her with the driver’s name: Dallen Harrell. UPS said he had a temporary job for the holiday season.
She gave the UPS representative her number and asked if Harrell could contact her. When he called, Kitchel enthusiastically thanked him for his thoughtful gesture.
Harrell, 24, said he had been observing the house’s outdoor baby-themed decorations. When he left the message, he wanted to extend a little kindness to a family that was in the same phase of life as his own.
“I just went from my heart,” said Harrell, who lives in the Atlanta area. He and his fiancée, Taqueria Robinson-Davidson, welcomed their son, Deveraux, on Sept. 16.
Days later, Kitchel and Harrell finally met.
“I was so excited to talk to him and just thank him for what his message meant to me,” said Kitchel.
However, that meeting was just the beginning. Since Harrell just had a baby boy too, Kitchel wanted to thank him for his compassion.
“I asked him if he had a baby registry, he could share with us, and he and his fiancé had not had a baby shower,” she said.
She posted his registry links online and nearly everything Harrell and his fiancé needed was gifted to them.
“They just have been coming in abundance — mostly from strangers,” Harrell said about the gifts.
Harrell, a native of St. Petersburg, Fla., moonlights as a singer, mostly of hip-hop, and goes by the stage name Lghtsknn Traumatized. He said he learned something about compassion after challenging experiences in his own life — he had open-heart surgery when he was 13, and his father died five years later. He said his mother taught him to shake hands firmly, look people in the eye, and, most of all, be kind.
He and Kitchel have become friends and are in touch almost daily. Their families plan to meet up after the holidays and introduce their baby boys.
Kitchel said the experience has been an example of how kindness can multiply and change lives.
“It’s free and available, and we can all do this,” she said, adding that it has been extra meaningful because it was a group effort.
“It’s just been really neat to see how it’s brought together a community of people,” she said.
UPS offered Harrell a full-time, permanent job as a driver with his own route after the holidays, and he accepted it.
“I can’t believe it all unfolded this way,” he said. “When I left the comment at the doorbell, I didn’t even expect to hear from them, and so many blessings have followed behind.”
Sources:
- https://youtu.be/nHwBfJrLntc
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/12/23/ups-baby-gift-dallen-harrell/
- https://www.wbtv.com/2021/12/20/ups-employees-act-kindness-georgia-goes-viral/
- https://readloud.net/
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