A friendly neighbourhood Uber driver went above and beyond to help an overwhelmed Tim Hortons employee in upstate New York by surprising her with a few helpful gifts she couldn’t afford on her own.
Uber driver Lamiyah Jabbar says she felt moved to help the fast-food employee, named Diane, after giving her a ride to work on Aug. 3. Diane told Jabbar about her money troubles and said she’d have to wait until Christmas to get some sorely-needed new clothes.
“She was hoping to be able to get a new dress for church and a robe and house shoes for Christmas,” Jabbar told CBS News. “She was communicating to me how … because she takes care of her grandkids, she doesn’t really have money left over to be able to buy herself stuff.”
Jabbar dropped Diane off at the Tim Hortons restauarant, but she couldn’t forget her story.
“I couldn’t help but think, ‘I’m someone who doesn’t have to wait until Christmas for something as simple as a robe, house shoes and a new dress,'” Jabbar said.
Once Jabbar finished her Uber shift, she went to the mall and bought Diane a dress and a $50 Visa gift card.
She returned to the Tim Hortons later that day and set up her phone to record Diane’s reaction at the drive-thru window.
Diane initially appears stressed out and does not seem to recognize Jabbar when she pulls up to the window.
“Diane, this morning I gave you an Uber ride to work…” Jabbar says in the video, which has been watched thousands of times on Instagram.
“Oh, yes!” Diane says. The woman suddenly breaks into a smile.
Jabbar reminds Diane of their conversation, including her plans to wait until Christmas for a new dress.
“You don’t gotta wait until Christmas,” Jabbar says. “I bought you a dress. Here’s the dress,” she adds, while handing an Old Navy bag to Diane in the drive-thru window. “You can wear it to church.”
“Thank you so much, honey!” Diane says.
“That’s your dress that you can wear to church,” Jabbar says.
Then she hands over the Visa gift card and tells Diane to spend it on house shoes and a robe.
“Oh, you’re so sweet!” Diane says. “Thank you so much! This has been such a horrible day. You just made it so much better!”
Jabbar says she simply loves giving people a hand when they’re struggling.
“I can’t move on without helping,” she told CBS.
Uber applauded Jabbar’s random act of kindness in a statement to WKBW in Buffalo.
“Drivers like Lamiyah are the heart of our service,” Uber said. “We’re inspired by the things they do every day to help riders and strengthen their communities.”