BUCKEYE, Ariz. — Usually, FedEx workers are the ones leaving packages on porches, so this driver was surprised when he encountered a box addressed to him along one of his routes.
The cardboard package left for UPS, FedEx, USPS and Amazon drivers was filled with water bottles, Gatorade, cans of soup and rolls of toilet paper. Another note confirmed that the gift-givers were "all sanitized."
"Thank you for being committed to the human race, we are depending on you! Take anything you want! Spread love! Stronger TOGETHER," a third message on the box read.
The FedEx driver, Tadashi Andrews of Buckeye, Arizona, posted his gratitude for the kind gesture.
In a post, he wrote:
I deliver to so many types of places everyday. Businesses, houses, apartments, hospitals, you name it, I'll deliver. This house I just left had this box on the porch. So thoughtful. So caring. In a time when people are panicking an hoarding everything for no really good reason, these people are willingly giving it away. We need waaaaay more of this. Please, if you see this, share it. Everyone needs to see this.
As the coronavirus pandemic keeps many Americans homebound, the demand for delivery services has increased drastically. Amazon announced it would be hiring for 100,000 new roles to fulfill the "significant increase" in orders.
Many passenger airlines that carry freight in their bellies are also being grounded by the coronavirus outbreak, and that could create an opportunity for cargo carriers like FedEx. FedEx CEO Fred Smith says that the delivery giant is capable of handling the increased demand for its for international express-delivery services that's arising because of the reduction in airliners.
Ultimately, though, Andrews didn't indulge in the goodies left by the good Samaritans.
"I didn't need anything, so I didn't take anything. That's how we also need to be," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.