Newspaper Delivery Man's Phone Rings Nonstop After He Offers Free Help to Customers on Route

A newspaper delivery man from New Jersey has found joy and purpose in helping at-risk and elderly customers who are staying home and staying safe during America’s quarantine.

Greg Dailey is now delivering more than just the daily news on his central New Jersey route; he is delivering much-needed groceries, free of charge, to people in need.

Dailey told CBS News’ “On the Road” with Steve Hartman that the change happened when one of his customers asked if he could toss her newspaper closer to the garage instead of the sidewalk.

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A note for the newspaper delivery man turned into a grocery lifeline for nearly 100 people amid coronavirus https://cbsn.ws/2RryqgC 

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3:49 PM - Apr 11, 2020

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The simple request pulled at Dailey’s heartstrings.

“If she can’t get the paper at the sidewalk, which is 20 feet from the house, in this pandemic, how is she going to get the things she needs?” Dailey said.

“So a couple days later I just decided, you know what, I’m going to put this note out.”

Dailey wrote a note, introducing himself and his idea, and inserted it into the next day’s newspapers.

“My name is Greg Dailey and I deliver your newspaper every morning,” the note read. “I would like to offer my services — free of charge — to anyone who needs groceries.”

Since then, Dailey said he has been busy nonstop with handling phone calls, writing down grocery orders, and carefully shopping.

After shopping, he places the bags on his customers’ doorsteps, waving a quick hello and goodbye to the faces that appear a safe distance away.

Customers have been overjoyed at Dailey’s kind act of service, which has grown to include people who are not on his route, but need the help all the same.

“I don’t have enough adjectives,” 85-year-old Eileen Stein told CBS of Dailey’s character. “He is one of the finest people in the world.”

Recently widowed, Stein has been one of nearly 100 senior citizens so far to benefit from Dailey’s grocery delivery service.

Dailey said he has come to enjoy the new gig so much that he won’t necessarily stop once America reopens.

“There’s a level of appreciation here, Steve, that goes above and beyond anything I’ve ever seen. So, no, I’m not going to stop,” Dailey said.

“There’s something about being able to do something really nice for people.”