89-Year-Old Pizza Delivery Man Surprisingly Receives $12,000 Tip from 'TikTok Family'

By Madelaine D. Sep 25 2020, 13:08 PM EDT

An 89-year-old pizza delivery man quickly changed fate as he received a surprise delivery of a $12,000 tip from the 'TikTok family.'

Derlin Newey is an 89-year-old hard-working pizza delivery man who was very surprised Tuesday morning when the Valdez family delivered something that will change Newey's life. The Valdez family went to Newey's home in Utah with Alex Cabrero, KSLTV reporter was there to witness the moment.

Derlin was so grateful while holding back his tears of joy and said, "How do I ever say thank you? I don't know what to say."

According to CNN, Newey delivers pizzas for Papa John's about thirty hours per week. The delivery man told KSL that he started working after realizing that he couldn't depend solely on social security benefits. Now, aside from being a delivery man, Newey is also a rising TikTok star as his kindness inspired his loyal customers.

The Valdez family said that when ordering pizza, they always ask for Newey. The family started recording Newey's deliveries as TikTok videos on their channel @vendingheads. Carlos Valdez said, "It's insane. Everybody loves him." The Valdez family claims that the delivery man's signature line with each pizza delivery is, "Hello, are you looking for some pizza?"

@vendingheads Here it is ##fyp ##venmochallenge ##man ##love ##blessed ##gift ##lovewins ♬ Aesthetic Girl - Yusei

The Valdez family's TikTok channel @vendingheads now has more than 53,000 followers. Their Tiktok account often receives comments asking why Derlin Newey is still working as a pizza delivery man at his age.

The family believed and agreed with their followers that Newey should not work too much at his age, and they decided to use their platform for some good deeds. The Valdez family asked their followers to give donations to help Newey. Then the money started rolling in for their good intentions.

The family immediately raised $12,000. They presented a signed check to Newey as from his 'TikTok family.' the delivery man didn't even know what TikTok was. But the family kindly explained what's going on and made Newey realize that there are people who are inspired by his hard work.

The Pizza delivery man was caught entirely off guard but was grateful for the unexpected blessing he received. The hard-working delivery man doesn't know what to say except thanking those people who helped him.

The surprise could not have gone any better; the Valdez family told KSL. "He needed this. I'm just glad we could help him. We just need to treat people with kindness and respect the way he does. He stole our hearts," said Valdez. The family added the surprise with a T-shirt that states, "Hello, are you looking for some pizza?"