"They are just such hardworking people"

Customers have been buying out a donut store to help its Asian owner to return home early and tend to his sick wife.

As reported by NBC, customers of a donut store in Los Angeles are buying donuts by the dozen to help its owner go home early to spend time with his sick wife.

John Chhan, 62, and wife Stella Chhan, 63, have been running their bakery, Donut City, for the past 28 years. Every morning the couple, who were refugees from Cambodia, wake up at 2am to open their store at 430am.

In late September Mrs Chan suffered an aneurysm and was recovering at a rehabilitation center. When patrons of the store discovered the news, they were heartbroken.

“I went home and I just couldn’t get it out of my head,” said Dawn Caviola, a regular of Donut City for the past 13 years. “They are just such hardworking people.”

Caviola reached out to the local community via Nextdoor to encourage people to help.

“I have never done anything like that before but I just thought if everyone can just buy a dozen doughnuts, it might help him out. I didn’t think it would become this big,” she said.

Her post quickly went viral on social media and Mr Chhan has said he has been able to go home at 10am.

“We sell out fast, every day,” Chhan said according to CBS Sacramento. Customers also offered to set up a GoFundMe page to help the couple but Chhan reportedly declined the offer because he simply wanted to spend time with his wife.

“It’s a blessing really,” one unidentified customer said. “We need more people like that to just help everybody out in whatever need they have.”