Brighten Your Day

Cake Shop Employee Drives 2 Hours To Deliver Birthday Cake To Family

May 9, 2020

Every year, for as long as she could remember, Terri Zimmerman has gotten an ice cream cake from Häagen-Dazs for her husband's birthday.

She didn't want this pandemic to change that, and it was made possible thanks to a wonderful act of kindness from a total stranger.

Zimmerman's husband, Mark, is a pulmonologist working in the Intensive Care Units of Overlook, Morristown, and Chilton Hospitals in New Jersey.

When Zimmerman decided it was time to order her husband's cake, all of the Häagen-Dazs locations in New Jersey were closed due to COVID-19.

She went on the company's website and found that the closest open location was in Park Slope, NY.

She called and asked if they would ship the ice cream cake she wanted with dry ice. They did not do that. She told the woman on the phone her husband's story. The employee, 19-year-old Farrell Sefer, told her not to worry; she'd drive the cake to her on her own time because she appreciated the work her husband was doing.

"I was in complete disbelief, being that she did not know me or my husband," Zimmerman told Bklyner. "I agreed, thinking I would give her a nice big tip."

When Sefer told store manager Danny Lifavi about the order, he said the cake is on the shop as a thank you for her husband's work.

So, Sefer made the over 2-hour commute to deliver the cake to a complete stranger. She also wrote a note on the box for the family.

"I can't express what this act of kindness and generosity means to me. Here I am just wanting to make my husband happy who has to work on his birthday, and who has been working such long and hard hours during this pandemic," Zimmerman said.

"I never thought it would turn into two unbelievable acts of kindness and generosity, well above the call of duty."