Inside the 12-Hour Solo Shift That Sparked a $90K Fundraiser and Shattered Expectations at Burger King
Ever wonder what it takes to run an entire fast-food joint all by yourself? Well, Nykia Hamilton didn’t just wonder — she lived it. This 25-year-old single mom of three somehow juggled drive-thru orders, whipped up the meals, and cleaned the floors all solo at a Burger King in Columbia, South Carolina. Sounds like a one-woman show straight out of a sitcom, right? But here’s the kicker — she got fired for showing up late, because, guess what? Her kids needed her. Talk about a plot twist that’s hard to swallow. Thankfully, the internet’s got her back, rallying behind Nykia with a fundraiser shooting past a whoppin’ $90,000. It’s got me thinking: if we can’t hold down a job while raising kids, but restaurants leave someone running the whole place alone — who’s actually looking out for whom? Dive into Nykia’s story, it’s more than fast food drama; it’s real life served hot. LEARN MORE
A fundraiser set up for former Burger King employee who ended up running an entire restaurant on her own has reached a whopper of $90,000 (£66,800).
Nykia Hamilton has spoken out in an update as donations are sent in from around the world.
The single mum of three went viral after customers in Columbia, South Carolina, couldn’t believe she was ‘doing everything by herself’ in the fast food restaurant.
The 25-year-old was totally running the show, taking orders, heading up the drive-thru, preparing food and cleaning up with a bit of help.
“She’s doing everything she needs to do to make sure everybody is okay in here,” a customer said.
But then the real shock came when it was revealed Nykia had been sacked from Burger King for being late to work ‘because of my kids’, leading to the fundraiser.
Nykia has had tens of thousands raised to support her. (WACH Fox 57)
Wisely making the most of her viral fame, she set up the page and explained she is a ‘25-year-old single mom of three who works two jobs’ as people wanted to help her after the sacking. “I just went viral for working on TikTok. If you wanna contribute, it’s ok. Thank y’all for the support,” she wrote. “I wasn’t expecting my life to change how it did. I really do everything for my kids.”
And donations have been piling in from across the US and beyond, as one donor from the UK wrote: “Your story has reached many of us around the world. I hope you can see that we all recognise this.”
With the total currently sitting (at the time of writing) at $90,920 (£67,500), Nykia has today (21 August) shared an update on the GoFundMe page: “Thank y’all so much for the support I didn’t expect turn out but I promise I won’t let y’all [down], stay tune for videos dropping soon.”
As many of us are left baffled that the mum would be sacked after what we’ve seen of her work ethic, Burger King responded, telling the New York Post in a statement that the decision on hiring and firing employees was up to the person running the franchise.
A spokesperson for Burger King said: “Terminations are the decision of the franchisees who own and operate the BK restaurant.
“In this situation, the franchisee confirmed that the individual involved is no longer employed due to repeated attendance issues.”
However, the fast-food giant expressed disappointment that one of its franchises was in such a state that one person was running it alone.
The spokesperson added: “No team member should ever be left to run a restaurant alone, even for a short period of time.
“That’s not how we operate and we’re disappointed that our policy, which required more than one team member to work per shift, wasn’t followed.
“While we can’t share more on individual personnel matters, we’re focused on making sure every restaurant, whether company or franchise-owned has the staffing and support needed to take care of our team members and deliver the kind of experience our guests expect.”
Nykia said she had been late due to her kids as Burger King ‘don’t pay for no babysitter’ and ‘my kids come first’.
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