A delivery driver has been dubbed a “Christmas angel” after taking extra steps to ensure the big day wasn’t ruined for children.
Aubrie Whitford has been dropping off all sorts of different items throughout the festive season, but perhaps most importantly, some big Christmas presents.
The 27-year-old, who works for UPS SSD, shared how one parcel almost “ruined” Christmas – until she stepped in.
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On a recent delivery route, Aubrie spotted a huge box with a picture of a dirt bike on the front – a classic Christmas present for many youngsters.
Instead of just delivering it to the door, where the child it was intended for could easily spot it, Aubrie decided to wrap the parcel in extra cardboard, covering up the picture.
“I immediately thought about a child seeing the box on the front step, with a picture showing exactly what was inside the box,” she told What’s The Jam.
“And a parent’s effort gone down the drain, and even potential for the North Pole fella to come into question amongst kids.”
She added that she managed to speak to someone on the property to tell them what she’d done and where the parcel was.
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This isn’t the first time Aubrie has lent a helping hand – last year she stepped in after spotting a Barbie Dream House in similar packaging and did the same thing.
This year, she’s already managed to help other families avoid several mishaps.
In a video shared on TikTok, which garnered 1.9 million views, she said: “In case you guys didn’t know, Santa wears claw clips and a brown jacket…
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“Not on my watch. I had two hoverboards last week and I’ll do it again.
“I’m just praying to the heavens that Christmas is saved for another family.”
Aubrie usually leaves a note with the parcels she wraps or disguises, to tell the families what happened.
She added: “Normally I determine the note based on the age of the kids, I’m very familiar with the area I have delivered in for three seasons now.
“If the kids can read, I have to be smart about what I put on the note, as you could imagine, if a 10-year-old reads that I’ve hidden a Christmas present in X spot or wrapped it for some reason, they are likely to go hunting for it.”
She said her own family is a big part of the reason she does this.
Aubrie, who is from Delaware, US, said: “I have nieces and nephews, many siblings, and we just adopted our son.
“Thinking about the magic being ruined for any of them makes me so sad.
“They were the driving force for me to make sure there wasn’t any kid out there on my route that would have the magic of Christmas ruined by a package I left.”
Aubrie’s video garnered over 300,000 likes and almost 5,000 comments.
One person said: “May you never hit a red light, your pillow always be cool, coffee the perfect temperature and life bless you abundantly.”
Another fan wrote: “As a mom whose daughter’s Christmas gift showed up on my porch in a CLEAR plastic bag THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.”
Someone else added: “As a mom who had the Barbie dream house surprise ruined, you are a Christmas angel.”
Another user wrote: “You have no idea how fantastic this is! You’re a great person and I hope no one ever dims your light.”
“The world needs more people like you,” someone else agreed.
Another person added: “Are you for real? Why can’t all drivers have this attitude? This is amazing.”
Aubrie said of the response: “It makes me feel good to know that I am doing something worth doing, as people share the stories of their child or spouse seeing their gift, or even the stories of neighbours or other UPS employees hiding packages or intercepting them before kids get off the bus.
“I think it makes other people feel good to see kind gestures done, it just gives you that warm fuzzy feeling – especially when it comes to Christmas magic and kids.
“Last year I wrapped some things, but the video that had the most traction was wrapping a Barbie Dream House.
“It was a box with coloured images all over, showing exactly what it was; great for Christmas morning, terrible for delivering.
“I wrapped that and recorded a message on their Ring camera explaining it to them as well.
“So many people commented on that video about their experiences, particularly with the Barbie Dream House.”
Aubrie said she’ll continue to do the same throughout the festive seasons in years to come too.
She added: “Christmas is all about selflessness, if you can do something nice for someone, even if it might inconvenience you, it’s worth it.
“You can’t have a village without being a villager!”
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