DACULA, Ga. — The saying “you never know who’s watching” turned out to be true for one Georgia high school graduate, whose life changed overnight.
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Maria Mendoza said that after watching her daughter graduate, all she wanted for dinner was a Whopper. So, she hopped in her car around 11 p.m. and headed to the Burger King in Dacula.
There, she saw Mykale Baker in the drive-thru working the fries station. Mendoza says she noticed Baker had on his stole and said he appeared to have just graduated.
“Oh, my God! Look at him. He’s working straight out of graduation, doing his French fries and stuff. I’m going to record him,” Mendoza said in the TikTok video.
While she says the recording was bad, it all turned out for Baker’s good.
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Mendoza shared it on TikTok on Tuesday and has since gone viral, with more than 3.7 million views.
Thousands of people began sharing the high school graduate’s story and even wanted to help Baker.
Mendoza started a GoFundMe with a goal of $5,000. She returned to that same Burger King, and with manager Julie’s help, set up a time to surprise Baker and his mother, Demetria, with the good news.
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In a tear-filled conversation, Mendoza shared with Baker and his mom that the GoFundMe donations jumped to over $6,000.
When asked if Baker had college plans, he replied: " I was going to take a gap year. I was thinking about going to college for automotive," Baker said. “I was thinking about taking a gap year because I didn’t have money for school. Thank you to all of ya’ll because I now might actually just go.”
As of Thursday, the GoFundMe has jumped to over $50,000.
Click here if you would like to contribute.
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