Small town moves its 1 UPS driver to tears with generous gift, surprise party

Dauphin, Pennsylvania, is a small town, but its residents have a big heart, as seen in this story.

A town of just under 800 people, Dauphin has no traffic lights and is the kind of place where everyone knows each other. And even though he didn’t live there, the residents also knew their UPS driver’s name: Chad Turns.

Chad has been delivering packages for UPS for more than 10 years now. And he’s no ordinary delivery driver.

Resident Jenny Shickley said that everyone in their town knew how special Chad is, and she witnessed firsthand just how true that is.

When Chad thought an unwrapped package was meant to be a gift, he didn’t deliver it when her kids were in the yard. He just drove by and drove all the way back to their house after dark because he didn’t want to ruin the surprise for them.

Chad going the extra mile for Jenny isn’t just a one-time thing. He also did it for other people in the town.

Jenny said that one time, a Dauphin resident had a package that needed signing. They weren’t home, and Chad thought it might be important, so he drove to their parents’ house to get it signed for them.

He’s also known for giving biscuits to dogs on his route.

When it comes to customer service, Chad really goes above and beyond.

And when the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the country, the town’s residents reacted as many did across the nation. They stayed home and ordered what they needed over the internet.

This surge in online shopping resulted in an increased workload for delivery drivers like Chad.

“He’s been working 60-80 hour weeks for a year,” Jenny said. “He’s been working Christmas-style hours for 365 days.”

Jenny—and her fellow Dauphin residents—thought that Chad deserved to be rewarded for his kindness. So, through a community Facebook page, Jenny organized a “Thank You, Chad” event for the beloved UPS driver.

The event got more support than she expected.

“The funny thing is I meant to set it up for $300, but it set to $500,” she said. “It hit $500 within two days and the total wound up being a little over $1000.”

UPS shift supervisor Adam Kerr helped pull off the surprise by assisting with the logistics. He arranged for Chad’s last stop to be an on-demand pickup at the municipal building.

Driving there, Chad thought he was going to pick up a regular package. But what he came to was several people holding up balloons and big signs with messages for him.

Several masked community members clapped and yelled, “Thank you, Chad!” as he pulled up his delivery truck.

The people presented him with cards, gifts, and $1,000 raised for him by the entire community.

“Well thank you. Oh my God,” Chad said as he read through a giant card. “I don’t know what to say, now, you got me choked up.”

He then took out his handkerchief to wipe his eyes.

“It was very overwhelming,” the UPS driver said of the event. “The idea that they even thought of me to do anything…to go above and beyond and do what they did yesterday was truly amazing to me.”

This isn’t the first time that Chad had been the recipient of generosity this past year. The people along his route often offer him water or a cookie, but this recent surprise had him tearing up.

“I cried,” he said, adding that his wife also shed a few tears. “I always call her when I leave work and she asks me how my day was. It was a tearjerker. It was very touching and humbling.”

A man who truly cares about others deserves to be recognized and rewarded for his efforts. Kudos to you, Chad, and to the Dauphin community for thanking him in the most beautiful way.

You can watch Chad’s reaction to the surprise in the video below from Adam Bryce.

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