Uber drivers have the chance to meet all types of people from different walks of life. Driver Bob Weiser of Chicago, a former Navy and corporate pilot, began driving for Uber as a way to keep busy in retirement.
The peppy driver invites his riders to write down inspirational quotes in a notebook when they hop into his vehicle, a special treat for the next passenger who hops into his vehicle.
Al Castillo drives passengers all around New York City, logging an average of 15 rides and 30 passengers, he shared with CNBC.
“I like to meet people. I like to talk to people of different backgrounds.”
Uber driver Lauren Mulvihill had been paged to the hospital in Henry County, Georgia, to transport 89-year-old Ronald Dembner back to his home. He had been discharged from the hospital, but he had no one to take him home, she told CNN.
As Lauren helped Ronald inside his home, she was shocked at what she saw on the other side of his front door.
The widower and veteran who lived alone with his dog King had no living family, no one to look out for him or help him. He was on his own with nowhere to turn.
He hadn’t called anyone to help him dig out from the squalor in which he was living for fear that someone would remove him from the home he loved, the home where he and his wife lived for so many years.
Ronald wasn’t ready to move into a nursing home and give up the only shred of independence he still had.
Ronald was clearly cognizant of the world around him, Lauren said, but he had a hard time getting around physically to clean the house. Lauren wanted badly to help him, but couldn’t do it by herself.
So the single mom turned to social media to try and rally people to help. She hoped to find a few individuals willing to assist Ronald, but instead, the response was amazing.
Dozens of volunteers stepped up to help rescue Ronald from the overwhelming world he lived in. They cleaned the house and sorted and tossed items. They painted walls, laid new flooring and addressed the mold they found.
In just one week, the volunteers took out a seemingly endless stream of trash, removed old furniture and ripped up the ruined carpet.
The public Facebook group Lauren created called Helping Mr. Ronald has upwards of 800 members. Shaquin Thomas was drawn to Ronald’s plight, so she joined the Facebook group and chose to spend her birthday serving the senior citizen soul food that she knew he liked.
Lauren has appointed herself Ronald’s biggest fan and takes care of him by setting up appointments for nurses and health care support to come into the home and help care for him.
Ronald can’t believe the outpouring of support people have shown him.
“He is so thankful, he cracks me up. He keeps saying, ‘I don’t know what I did to deserve all of this from all you guys.’ It’s giving him hope that he will be taken care of.”
Lauren had never met Ronald until that fateful day when she was dispatched to the hospital to help him. That chance encounter has led to an amazing friendship and the formation of an incredible support group for one of the country’s deserving veterans.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
