When you look up, you may see a FedEx airplane in the sky. Those pilots work long hours, and many times overnight.
But when an important part of their morning routine needed help, they all stepped up in a major way, to the tune of $40,000.
The Cafe Coffee Lady, Miss Lucille, is one of the first people pilots interact with, setting the tone of the day with a smile.
“When we get to work, one of the first places we go is our cafe area in the back,” said Teresa Orive, who has been stopping in the FedEx Cafe for 20 years. “There’s pretty much nothing that we ever had to ask for. And she’s a smiling face at two three in the morning.”
So, when Miss Lucille wasn’t at work, Teresa knew something was going on.
“I saw a new lady there, which, you know, it’s a little unusual. And I said, well, where’s Miss Lucille?” Orive said.
Turns out she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.
And that’s when Teresa realized it was her turn to provide Miss Lucille a smile. She started a GuFundMe.
“Teresa posted the Facebook post for the GoFundMe. And when I saw it, I was reading, and I was like, oh my goodness, I have to give,” said Anthony Glenn, who donated to fundraiser.
Anthony is one of hundreds of FedEx pilots who have raised more than $40,000 for Miss Lucille and her daughter, who is now taking care of her full-time.
The $5,000 GoFundMe goal was exceeded in an hour as comments of love and support poured in.
FedEx over 5,000 pilots and, while they don’t know the number of how many have stepped up, they say it’s a huge percent.
It’s an opportunity to give back to someone who has done so much to them.
“I just hope Miss Lucille realizes that she made a larger impact than she probably ever thought,” Glenn said. “You never know what people have come into a place with or what they felt like, or how bad was the day prior. I just want her to realize that, you know what? We love her. And that’s why we’re standing with her and we’re praying.”
