A Burger King worker who says he's never missed a day of work in 27 years has been given $400,000 in crowdfunding donations after going viral on TikTok

• A Burger King worker has been given $400,000 in crowdfunding donations after going viral last year.
• The video showed Kevin Ford being given a paltry goody bag to celebrate his 27-year tenure.

A Burger King worker has been given $400,000 in crowdfunding donations after the fast-food chain gave him a paltry goody bag to celebrate his 27 years working at a restaurant in Nevada.

Kevin Ford, a cook and cashier at the Burger King in the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, went viral last summer in a video saying that he had never missed a day of work. In the video, he showed the gifts the chain's hiring company HMSHost gave him to reward his loyalty: A movie ticket, a Starbucks cup, a bag of Reese's candy, two packets of Life Savers, two pens, and two keychains in a plastic drawstring backpack, as well as some chocolate cake.

"Like most big corporations, they've kind of lost touch with their workers," Ford told TMZ last year. He said that while he was grateful for the gifts, they looked like things HMSHost "had lying around."

One of his daughters created a GoFundMe page for her father in response to the video's traction on social media. She wrote that Ford began working at the restaurant as a single father when he gained custody of his first two daughters, and stayed there because of the healthcare insurance which covered his four daughters through high school and college.

"My dad continues to work there, because though he does look young, he is coming up on retirement age and leaving would cost him his retirement," the GoFundMe description reads. "In no way are we asking for money or is he expecting any money but if anyone feels like blessing him he would love to visit his grandchildren." Ford was able to visit them in Texas after the donations came in.

"I feel like the whole world lifted me up," Ford told Today in December. "It's still like a dream every day that I hope I never wake up from.

As of August 8, the GoFundMe page had raised more than $402,000 through over 13,500 donations, including $5,000 from "Saturday Night Live" alum David Spade, who also sent a message to Ford, per TMZ.

Burger King and HMSHost did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside of regular working hours, about whether Ford has also received other rewards from the company.

Burger King told PEOPLE that the video showed Ford receiving a "peer-to-peer reward in recognition of a short-term positive performance/experience." The franchisee has a "robust employee recognition program," including monetary awards, the company added.