Christmas is the time for giving each year. While we all know that it doesn’t have to be Christmas to be kind, there is just something about this time of year that inspires it! One woman who went through the same Dunkin Donuts drive-through each day decided to do something worthy of some serious holiday cheer when she noticed that her favorite barista wasn’t working anymore.
Suzanne Burke has been a regular at a Dunkin Donuts drive-through in Mount Healthy for quite a while.
As any regular customer knows, you start to develop a relationship with the staff and over time, you know their faces! Even more, you start to know little things about their lives, just from the little moments of conversation you have each day. For Burke, that daily dose of caffeine turned into a friendship with one of the workers, a girl named Ebony Johnson.
Johnson is 33-years-old and has been working at the drive-through for about three years.
Over that time, she’s had enough interactions with Burke to develop a sort of friendship with her regular! The two were close enough that when Burke noticed Johnson has stopped showing up to work, it concerned her.
When Johnson finally returned to work weeks later, Burke went ahead and asked her if everything was ok in her life.
Sadly, it wasn’t. During those weeks she had been missing, she had been doing her best to find a place to live with her kids since they had been evicted. On top of that, the lack of income from taking the time off had made the situation harder, but she didn’t have a choice. Now, she was homeless with her three kids.
As she explained the situation, Johnson got a bit overwhelmed.
“I wanted to give up,” Johnson told TODAY “I cried. I come to work every day and nobody knows what I’m going through because I always try to have a smile for our customers.”
It had been a tough time for her and it wasn’t easy to live talk about, let alone live through. Thankfully, that wasn’t the end of her story. As she was leaving, Burke left a note for Johnson asking her to reach out if she needed any help.
Soon after, Johnson reached out and accepted the help offered by Burke.
Burke had worked in social services for most of her career and had all sorts of connections that would be valuable for her friend. It was going to take some effort, but Burke was determined to help Johnson get back on her feet.
Then, nine months later, there was a breakthrough.
“Oh my God, it was so amazing, I just busted out crying,” Johnson said. “I never had a full furnished house. I never had help like this. I had been asking God to put us in a home before Christmas, and He really did. I’m just so thankful.” – TODAY
What’s more, Burke reached out to some businesses and asked if they would be willing to help furnish the apartment. They were glad to. Now, for Christmas this year, Johnson and her kids were going to have a warm home to wake up in and celebrate.
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