California Community Buys Out Donuts So Shop Owner Can Spend Time With Sick Wife

In our series, A More Perfect Union, we aim to show that what unites us as Americans is far greater than what divides us. In the small surf town of Seal Beach in Southern California, donuts are suddenly selling fast. That's because customers of this mom-and-pop shop made it their mission to help the owners in their time of need. John Blackstone went to Donut City early one morning to see how people are coming from all over to pay it forward. Seven days a week, John Chan arrives a little after four in the morning to open his donut shop in Seal Beach, California. The first customers arrive by 4.30. These days, you have to get there early, because the donuts are likely to be sold out before dawn. I'm getting five dozen donuts. Five dozen donuts? Five dozen, yeah. I'm going to take care of the staff today at my kids' elementary school. Since 1990, John Chan has been behind the counter with his wife, Stella, by his side. How is she doing? She's OK. John's wife of more than 30 years is now recovering from a brain aneurysm. Her sister stepped in to help out, but customers immediately missed Stella. She's smiling, full of life, always in a great mood, just says, hi, how are you, good morning. Because of their affection for the man who makes the confections, the community wanted to help. As word spread about Stella, people said, oh, we'll give you some money. We'll open a GoFundMe page. We'll give you some money. Oh, no. She don't want it. You have. You couldn't enough. I can make by myself. It's good enough. You didn't want people to just give you money? No, no, no, no. We wanted to offer John some money, but he's a proud man and didn't want to take it. So I said, let's just come here, buy his inventory out every morning, early, so he can get home and be with his wife and help mend her back to full health. One person shared Chan's story on social media, suggesting the community could help out and bring donuts to work, church, school, because as soon as the donuts are sold out, John could leave and spend more time with his wife. Suddenly, donuts were selling by the dozens and dozens. I'd like to get a dozen donuts. I have two dozen. Give me four dozen. I'm from Minnesota, and I heard about this. This is awesome. You heard about this from your daughter? My daughter and her husband are stationed in Hawaii. They're in the military, and she got a hold of us and said we needed to come down and support this family. We're busy, but I don't mind. I like it. John and Stella are refugees from Cambodia. They became part of the fabric of this community, selling donuts to generation after generation. Yeah, they're national treasures here at Seal Beach, 28 years right here. Yeah, they're great people. And that is why, morning after morning, as the sun comes up, the donuts are disappearing. I just can say thank you very much for neighbor or community. They all helping me so much. By 6.45, just more than two hours after Chan opened, nearly everything is gone but the holes. I ordered the whole pan of the donut holes. The whole pan of the donut? Yes. Is there anything left for you to order? I ordered the second pan. There were two pans, and we took them all. In this little shop by the sea, the only thing sweeter than the donuts is the outpouring of affection for the man behind the counter. John, I just want to say thank you for everything. Thank you. For CBS This Morning, John Blackstone, Seal Beach, California. We needed that. We needed a reminder that there is humanity in this country and that people really want to do good and do well and help others. Well, kindness, which we've talked about. Kindness never, ever, ever goes out of style. Not for nothing. You could tell those donuts look good looking at the glazed sugar through the cabinet. I want those. He does a good job in seeing refugees as national treasures and someone who does not want a handout. He didn't want money. He wanted his product to sell for itself, and the community helped out. I'm biased, but I'm a fan of refugees, and this one checks all the boxes, right? You've got great food, great hearts in the community, and people coming in from thousands of miles away. Anybody with a heart can't be biased when you look at a story, should be biased when you look at a story like that. Thank you, John Blackstone. Yeah. Well done. Thank you. I used to eat donuts. Yeah.