NEW ORLEANS — Earlier this week, we told you about a 90-year-old veteran pushing shopping carts to make ends meet. Now, he's thanking thousands across the country who raised money to help him retire.
WWL Louisiana's Amelia Strahan tells us the surprising way he plans to spend his golden years.
"They only require you to push four at a time….but that's too slow," McCormick said.
If you ask Dillon McCormick what gets him out of bed every morning, he'll tell you this, "I love working at Winn Dixie, I get to talk to more people. I try to be nice to them or polite to them really."
For over two decades, he's been greeting customers in Metairie with a shopping cart and a smile.
"It's best to let people know that they're shopping at a place that I love working at."
For the 90-year-old veteran, it's a job he relies on to put food on his table. But that changed when he ran into a former WWL Louisiana anchor Karen Swensen.
"I asked him why are you working on Memorial Day, and he said two words I'm not even sure if you can make them out, he said to eat," said Swensen.
That night she decided to help. "I really thought people would rally behind him, I knew New Orleans would. For so many people this has confirmed our belief in humanity"
In less than 24 hours, the GoFundMe donations climbed to over $200,000, enough money for McCormick to put his days of pushing shopping carts behind him, but he says he has other plans.
"He said I can keep my job..that's the most important thing. I like to stay busy," he said.
And management says he'll always have a place in the Winn Dixie family, "We're so proud to have and he has a job here as long as he wants."
Strahan asked McCormick "So just to be clear, you're going to keep working here for a while"?
"Oh, until the day I die," he responded.
But for now, he'll keep greeting you with a shopping cart and a smile.
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