Viral Burger King Employee Who Worked 27 Years Without Days Off Fulfills a 'Beautiful Dream' Thanks to Donations

“I wanted to do something to pay back what the world did for me,” Ford tells PEOPLE

• Burger King worker Kevin Ford went viral in 2022 for a video that showed the gifts he received after having never missed a day in 27 years of working for the fast food chain

• After it viral, with many criticizing the gifts, Ford's daughter launched a GoFundMe campaign, which enabled him to buy his first home earlier this year — and now, it's enabled him to go after another "beautiful dream"

• "I'm going to put out some good food and I'm going to go for it," Ford tells PEOPLE about his new food truck business venture

A Burger King employee who went viral after going 27 years without missing a single shift has now been able to make another big life change thanks to a fundraising campaign.

After announcing earlier this year he was able to purchase his first home thanks to the generosity of the thousands who have supported him since 2022, Kevin Ford, 57, shares that he recently bought a food truck, which will hopefully allow him to retire from his fast food gig.

In an interview with PEOPLE, the father of 4 from Pahrump, Nevada. says his new business is also his way of saying thank you to his supporters who have donated to the fundraiser set up by one of his daughters.  As of Monday, Sept. 16, the “Kevin 27 Years BK” GoFundMe has generated over $465,000.

“I wanted to do something to pay back what the world did for me,” he says. “I wanted to not only make money but do something to help the community.”

Related: Single Mom Rescues Man from Tree Crushing His SUV. After Learning She Needs Help with Home, He Starts GoFundMe (Exclusive)

Ford says he purchased the food truck, which came with a flat-top grill and fryer, from China after seeing an online video posted by a food truck technology company. Emblazoned on the side of his truck is the logo “K27Y,” which signifies his first name and his dedication and years of service.

Once the business gets off the ground (no launch date has been announced yet), his truck’s initial food offerings will consist of American fare like hot dogs and fries. He has a fiancée in the Philippines whom he plans to bring to the U.S. once the visa issues are resolved.

“When she gets here, I'm going to also add traditional Filipino food,” he says. “I kind of want to do American versus Filipino type stuff and do some fusions.  My daughter Seryna is a trained chef from Le Cordon Bleu, so she's going to help me with some of the recipes and everything.”

He acknowledges that he is still learning about the food truck business and is taking his time before his venture makes its official debut. Having never owned a business before, Ford sees himself as proof that anyone can do something new — even in their late 50s.

“I'm going to work this day and night,” he says of his food truck. ”I'm going to study it. I'm going to do whatever I can and I'm going to have fun. I'm going to put out some good food and I'm going to go for it.”

Related: Homeless Musician’s Performance Goes Viral — and Leads to Thousands in Donations: ‘Restored My Faith’ (Exclusive)

The new venture is just another major milestone in Ford’s life that may have never happened had it not been for the now-famous video from two years ago. In that clip, Ford — a cook for the Burger King location at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport — showed a goodie bag he received from management for his nearly three decades of service without missing a day.

Among the items included were a Starbucks cup, a bag of Reese’s Pieces, two packs of Life Savers, two pens, a lanyard and two keychains.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Ford, who has four daughters and three grandchildren, tells PEOPLE he made the video because  HMSHost, a food service company for Burger King, has always encouraged its employees to do social media posts like TikTok and Instagram as a form of recruiting.

“All I was thinking about was I was happy that I had a job,” says Ford, who added that his other Burger King employees had served longer than him but never received a gift from management. “And so I was just sincerely grateful to get anything. I took my camera to a coworker and I said, Hey, film this. So I filmed this video and I was thanking them for everything in [the goodie bag].”

The video was shared by his co-worker on Instagram and later went viral on TikTok. “I'm on my way to work, and one of my coworkers called me and said, ‘The video has gone viral.’ They're like, ‘Yeah, it's got over a couple hundred thousand [views].’ By the time I got to work, it had gotten a million views or something."

Commenters who saw the video criticized the contents of the goodie bag as not being worthy of Ford's long tenure with the company. In response to the clip, Ford’s daughter Seryna launched a GoFundMe, which also allowed her to explain that he started working at Burger King as a single parent when he gained custody of her and her older sister decades ago. She also said that because of Burger King’s generous health coverage, Ford was able to work at the company for a long time and support his daughters through college.

To this day, Ford is still blown away by the outpouring of support.

“My whole life was turned upside down when my daughter, America and the world did this for me,” Ford says. “They saved my life. They still donate, and I appreciate it every day.”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Among the things Ford did with his GoFundMe money was purchasing his first house.

“When I was married, we struggled to rent and bought a house once or twice,” he recalls. “But we would always lose it because it was too expensive or the economy or something like that. To have that feeling of independence and know that it's mine — it is really indescribable. I'm so thankful to the world and grateful that they did this for me. It's beyond beautiful.”

Related: Daughter's 4-Sentence Obit for Mom Who 'Burnt Bridges' Goes Viral. She Says It's 'No Joke' (Exclusive)

As he waits for his food truck business to get off the ground, Ford is still working at Burger King, although due to a back issue, he now only works there four days a week. He says he plans to retire once the truck turns profitable and he can pay his expenses.

“I am just like everybody else. You still have to pay bills, you still have to get up in the morning and go to work. But yes, it's an absolutely beautiful dream that continues to be a beautiful dream," he says. "The ‘Kevin 27 Years’ GoFundMe has changed my life and the lives of my children and grandchildren forever.  People continue to hold me up and donate, and it's just an absolutely beautiful thing.”

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.