Dunkin' Donuts Employee Shows What Obscene Amounts Of Leftovers They Throw, Instead Gives Them To The Homeless, Gets Fired Interview
Something that’s stuck with me from my childhood (and I’m pretty sure it’ll stay with me forever) is just how much food waste scares me. It’s unreal. I can’t stand throwing food away—it makes me sad and ashamed because someone somewhere is starving right now while here I am, filling up my garbage can.
But no matter how wastefully a person might live, it’s nothing compared to the amount of serviceable food thrown out every single day by restaurants, businesses, and fast-food franchises. Case in point—Dunkin’ Donuts (now former) employee Bryan Johnston was horrified that he had to keep dumping several hundred donuts into the bin every single night. So he decided to donate the food to the homeless instead. Bryan uploaded a TikTok video of himself doing just that and even though people loved it, the 16-year-old lost his job for breaking protocol. But there’s always a silver lining… and Bryan’s the guy who can always find it.
Bryan told Bored Panda that he was really surprised when he found out he was fired. “It’s still very hard to look back to when I replay the whole situation in my head. It felt as though my manager didn’t care that I worked there for 5 months and she didn’t say anything like ‘sad to see you go’ or ‘thanks for being a part of the team.'” Read on for our full interview with him.
A small heads-up, dear Pandas. Keep in mind that every owner of a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise personally decides whether or not to donate food at the end of the day. The company itself has created a support structure for those who choose to donate.
More info: TikTok | Instagram | YouTube
16-year-old Bryan Johnston’s donut-saga went viral on TikTok. The teenager detailed how he got fired from Dunkin’ Donuts because he gave donuts to the homeless instead of throwing them out
Image credits: bryanjohnston
He was literally tasked with throwing out hundreds of perfectly edible donuts each and every night
@bryanjohnston_every night … 312 donuts + munchkins 😢@dunkin♬ In This House – Marcus Vinicius Alfaro Nascimento
@bryanjohnston_My closing routine at Dunkin :) #fyp #dunkin #GroupChat #loop♬ Steven Universe – L.Dre
Bryan’s a stoic guy. Even though it was tough getting fired, he’s been getting a lot of support from people and he’s very grateful to all of them for reaching out with kind words. “People also have been helping me financially until I find a stable source of income which I am beyond blessed for.”
In Bryan’s opinion, some franchises don’t help feed the homeless because they’re “greedy and lazy” to go the extra mile for the local community. “They would rather just throw away the food at the end of the day instead of paying an employee a couple more man-hours to bring the food to a donation center. Even though it’s up to the store what to do with the waste, most store managers instruct us to throw out the food because they haven’t set up a program to donate. And that roots back to the company itself and not having proper procedures set up in place for the food waste which I find extremely disappointing.”
He also went into detail with Bored Panda about his future plans. In short, we can expect great things from him. “I plan on using my voice to bring light to the issue of how much food waste goes on throughout America each day and how true a problem famine and world hunger is. If companies like Dunkin’ decided to someone reduce the food waste and/or donate the food to the hungry, issues like that would not be as huge of a problem. I still would want to grow on TikTok making positive videos as well as comedy/lifestyle content, but I am hoping to get a lot of people on board with me on how big an issue is that is overseen by so many.”
Bryan also hopes to partner up with bigger corporations like Feeding America in the future and he’d love to volunteer. “But right now I’m still kinda shaken by the fact so many people on the internet support me and what I am doing/going to do. It gives me the motivation to continue to be a light in such difficult times in the world.”
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Fed up with having to waste good food, Bryan decided to pack up the donuts and hand them out to the homeless
@bryanjohnston_Reply to @cole_598 Let’s make 2021 a year of supporting our community ❤️ Tag a friend in the comments to spread the positivity :) #fyp #Wee♬ Mr. Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Bryan also handed out food to firefighters, as well as the needy. He claims that this is why he got fired from his job at Dunkin’ Donuts
@bryanjohnston_Reply to @meza_melissa_ If u want to support me, links are in bio. I wanted the truth about Dunkin shared, it costed my job :( wont stop making vids❤️♬ Worship Instrumental – Instrumental – Adrian Jonathan
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: ItsTerrax3
Even though Bryan got fired because he handed out donuts to the homeless instead of throwing them away, there’s an upside to all of this. He got a lot of support from everyone online and some people even donated him some money to help keep him afloat.
However, true to his mission of being a Based and Charitable Lad, Bryan decided to use the money to buy donuts (Krispy Kreme, not Dunkin’) for hospital staff. Of course, the teenager uploaded a video of himself handing out the bags to healthcare workers and–oh, God, he’s just an all-round decent human being in a messed up corporate world, isn’t he?
Now, who’s up for donuts and volunteering?
Keep in mind that Dunkin’ Donuts encourages its franchises to support their local communities. However, it’s up to each individual franchise owner if they want to donate leftover food or not
Image credits: ItsTerrax3
Image credits: itsdivyag
Image credits: itsdivyag
Bryan had a wholesome update for us. Loads of people supported him financially, so he dabbed on Dunkin’ by getting Krispy Kreme donuts for healthcare workers
@bryanjohnston_Reply to @daddy.hisokas.towel Thanks for sending support :) Comment what I should do next! #GEICOLipSync #foryoupage♬ Stuck in the Middle – Tai Verdes
Here’s how people reacted to the donut-saga. Some even shared their own experiences with having to throw out food at work
Image credits: AdayAve
Image credits: Bananabbyjay
Image credits: BlackburryTV
Image credits: OBEY_elREY
Image credits: _toumaras_
Image credits: sameoldshaun
Image credits: rants_n_whatevs
Image credits: silverface_
if instead of filming and publishing on tiktok, just give the food to the homeless without making a noise, maybe he hadn't been fired and could still donate the food to the homeless. charity or good deeds do not need to be recorded or shared for likes/ views...
He might argue he was trying to raise awareness of the issue but I do agree, charity shouldn't require recognition or fame. In any case, the punishment here certainly didn't fit the crime.
I agree that not every little thing needs to go on social media. BUT in this case, I think this wonderful boy was just trying to bring attention to this needless waste of perfectly edible food. F* these corporates, seriously! Made me so angry seeing all this food being wasted when there are people who are literally starving.
Do something...and not broadcast it to the world...is that possible?
@Lola jeez playing "find the boomer" is getting easier and easier these days lmao
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Not with today’s teenagers. They are starved for attention.
Keep in mind that 1) he is a 16 year old kid, 2) he probably didn't realize he would get fired, and 3) he was recording the second part as a response. The way it's formatted makes me think the first one was to raise awareness, then a whole bunch of people commented on that one to give it to homeless people, and he responded to those comments by making a video. I don't think he did it to get attention.
Nope. I’ve worked in the food service industry too. I’m the daughter of immigrants from a third world country, throwing out edible food made me feel like the worse sinner...don’t worry, I found other sins along the way 😝 At least at my job, I could portion things out from the walk in fridge. Overtime, I got better at guessing how much ingredients we need to minimize food waste, at least for my part. He could be fired if it got to the manager by word of mouth. A firemen could say that his local DD was supplying much appreciated donuts, and we’d have the same result. At least Bryan spread awareness that 1. That his manager could have made his DD one of the ones who donated food. 2. He got credit for his kindness. ***i didn’t think it was the best idea to buy more donuts with the money given to keep him afloat. If he is not the kind man he presents himself to be, time will reveal the truth. Kindness that is shared and visibly seen can inspire more people to act accordingly.
But the noise is that completely,just day long edible and good food goes to waste as of the company's policy if its not on the high standards of selling it to customers and make profit.Nothing to do with charity and thats why he was fired.Not cause he gave it to homeless but simply exposing the fact that companies dont care for society other than increasing their profits.The amounts of good food going to waste worldwide while so many people starve or dont eat well is sad.And he gets the punishment for exposing this.All business should donate their good food left through channels to the most unfortunate ones.Its the choice to do this charity and not an employee's anyway.Even from from marketing and profits point's of view is good.To buy something from a company you know really cares about its social responsibility and does something about it,I would be a loyal customer in that case.The management could be inspired from this action,instead they got panicked and went the other way
Unfortunately, if he didn't document what he was doing with store product they could have simply accused him of stealing. I worked in McDonalds in high school, and if we grabbed as much as a single fry from the bin, it was grounds for instant firing.
But he could not publish it anywhere and still continue helping people......or maybe he could just remain anonymous and post it in text form, not even revealing the franchise, and no one would know!
I think the charity thing here is just minor in comparison with the food-wasting practice that the bakery is doing. The boy was doing right, he should be loud about this. He should raise community awareness about this. I totally support him.
I came here to say exactly the same. He wasn't fired because of donating, but because of bragging on social media.
That's called circular logic. You are ignoring the problem of the situation completely. Why you're getting thumbed up for that is beyond me. Well actually I do know why, but I'll choose to be nice and not say it.
I start to make volunteer work with 14yo (so, more than half of my life) and I used to work as a social worker. I know the problem and not ignoring the situation at all. I know a lot of people who does the same as this guy, and give restaurants leftovers to homeless without permission, and without the visibility of a social media. And you don't really need to be nice: just say it!
He *wanted* to be fired because of this... he would get more views and social media attention that way. I have no problem with what he did, and I think it is horrible that food is wasted like that... but I question his motivation. Either way he isn't a "bad guy", just not as much as a "hero" as he wants to be, that's all.
Disagree. Dunking do sucks as well as other for other throw away restarants
Yeah, like what did he expect? If he thought he would be fine, he would have talked to the manager first anyway. That he didn't tells me he knew they would not agree with that ...
Kind of brought it on himself
I used to do this at a French Bakery in Seattle. When the sandwiches were tallied up at the end of the day to be thrown out, I'd bag them up and hand them out to the homeless people on my way home. The owner was completely fine with it. When it came around to Christmas time, he also gave me all the cookies and pastries that would go stale from the shop being closed for 2 days. The homeless guys were so grateful.
Well you weren't working for a franchise.
France passed laws recently so that no grocery or food items can be thrown away; they MUST be distributed. It can be done. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/24/586579455/french-food-waste-law-changing-how-grocery-stores-approach-excess-food
Yes, i know that in some countries markets will put the vegetables and fruits that were not sold during the day in a special place for other to take. People who could not afford it mainly. So it would not be wasted.
That’s a wonderful solution for hunger, and stress over the cost of eating nutritiously. (I mean, why is junk food always so cheap, and nutritious food always more expensive?) People who can’t afford perfectly-shaped, first day fresh food items—-that are perfectly good to eat if misshapen or day old—-can opt to wait and pay less, thereby getting more bang for their limited bucks, and eating so much better than before. Plus, the markets aren’t wasting perfectly edible food. I would guess unsold food that actually does go bad can be contributed for composting (like to organic farms that use it and/or stores that make and sell compost in bulk).
Thank you for including this. I understand and have been told the same lines. I appreciate the shift from defending food waste to something a bit more practical.
Yeah but if you did that in the US you'd be making corporations actually do something beneficial to society, so it's a no go there.
if instead of filming and publishing on tiktok, just give the food to the homeless without making a noise, maybe he hadn't been fired and could still donate the food to the homeless. charity or good deeds do not need to be recorded or shared for likes/ views...
He might argue he was trying to raise awareness of the issue but I do agree, charity shouldn't require recognition or fame. In any case, the punishment here certainly didn't fit the crime.
I agree that not every little thing needs to go on social media. BUT in this case, I think this wonderful boy was just trying to bring attention to this needless waste of perfectly edible food. F* these corporates, seriously! Made me so angry seeing all this food being wasted when there are people who are literally starving.
Do something...and not broadcast it to the world...is that possible?
@Lola jeez playing "find the boomer" is getting easier and easier these days lmao
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Not with today’s teenagers. They are starved for attention.
Keep in mind that 1) he is a 16 year old kid, 2) he probably didn't realize he would get fired, and 3) he was recording the second part as a response. The way it's formatted makes me think the first one was to raise awareness, then a whole bunch of people commented on that one to give it to homeless people, and he responded to those comments by making a video. I don't think he did it to get attention.
Nope. I’ve worked in the food service industry too. I’m the daughter of immigrants from a third world country, throwing out edible food made me feel like the worse sinner...don’t worry, I found other sins along the way 😝 At least at my job, I could portion things out from the walk in fridge. Overtime, I got better at guessing how much ingredients we need to minimize food waste, at least for my part. He could be fired if it got to the manager by word of mouth. A firemen could say that his local DD was supplying much appreciated donuts, and we’d have the same result. At least Bryan spread awareness that 1. That his manager could have made his DD one of the ones who donated food. 2. He got credit for his kindness. ***i didn’t think it was the best idea to buy more donuts with the money given to keep him afloat. If he is not the kind man he presents himself to be, time will reveal the truth. Kindness that is shared and visibly seen can inspire more people to act accordingly.
But the noise is that completely,just day long edible and good food goes to waste as of the company's policy if its not on the high standards of selling it to customers and make profit.Nothing to do with charity and thats why he was fired.Not cause he gave it to homeless but simply exposing the fact that companies dont care for society other than increasing their profits.The amounts of good food going to waste worldwide while so many people starve or dont eat well is sad.And he gets the punishment for exposing this.All business should donate their good food left through channels to the most unfortunate ones.Its the choice to do this charity and not an employee's anyway.Even from from marketing and profits point's of view is good.To buy something from a company you know really cares about its social responsibility and does something about it,I would be a loyal customer in that case.The management could be inspired from this action,instead they got panicked and went the other way
Unfortunately, if he didn't document what he was doing with store product they could have simply accused him of stealing. I worked in McDonalds in high school, and if we grabbed as much as a single fry from the bin, it was grounds for instant firing.
But he could not publish it anywhere and still continue helping people......or maybe he could just remain anonymous and post it in text form, not even revealing the franchise, and no one would know!
I think the charity thing here is just minor in comparison with the food-wasting practice that the bakery is doing. The boy was doing right, he should be loud about this. He should raise community awareness about this. I totally support him.
I came here to say exactly the same. He wasn't fired because of donating, but because of bragging on social media.
That's called circular logic. You are ignoring the problem of the situation completely. Why you're getting thumbed up for that is beyond me. Well actually I do know why, but I'll choose to be nice and not say it.
I start to make volunteer work with 14yo (so, more than half of my life) and I used to work as a social worker. I know the problem and not ignoring the situation at all. I know a lot of people who does the same as this guy, and give restaurants leftovers to homeless without permission, and without the visibility of a social media. And you don't really need to be nice: just say it!
He *wanted* to be fired because of this... he would get more views and social media attention that way. I have no problem with what he did, and I think it is horrible that food is wasted like that... but I question his motivation. Either way he isn't a "bad guy", just not as much as a "hero" as he wants to be, that's all.
Disagree. Dunking do sucks as well as other for other throw away restarants
Yeah, like what did he expect? If he thought he would be fine, he would have talked to the manager first anyway. That he didn't tells me he knew they would not agree with that ...
Kind of brought it on himself
I used to do this at a French Bakery in Seattle. When the sandwiches were tallied up at the end of the day to be thrown out, I'd bag them up and hand them out to the homeless people on my way home. The owner was completely fine with it. When it came around to Christmas time, he also gave me all the cookies and pastries that would go stale from the shop being closed for 2 days. The homeless guys were so grateful.
Well you weren't working for a franchise.
France passed laws recently so that no grocery or food items can be thrown away; they MUST be distributed. It can be done. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/24/586579455/french-food-waste-law-changing-how-grocery-stores-approach-excess-food
Yes, i know that in some countries markets will put the vegetables and fruits that were not sold during the day in a special place for other to take. People who could not afford it mainly. So it would not be wasted.
That’s a wonderful solution for hunger, and stress over the cost of eating nutritiously. (I mean, why is junk food always so cheap, and nutritious food always more expensive?) People who can’t afford perfectly-shaped, first day fresh food items—-that are perfectly good to eat if misshapen or day old—-can opt to wait and pay less, thereby getting more bang for their limited bucks, and eating so much better than before. Plus, the markets aren’t wasting perfectly edible food. I would guess unsold food that actually does go bad can be contributed for composting (like to organic farms that use it and/or stores that make and sell compost in bulk).
Thank you for including this. I understand and have been told the same lines. I appreciate the shift from defending food waste to something a bit more practical.
Yeah but if you did that in the US you'd be making corporations actually do something beneficial to society, so it's a no go there.