Customer Surprises Favorite Dunkin Employee With Furnished Home

When Suzanne Burke of Cincinnati Ohio learned her favorite Dunkin’ Donuts employee had been evicted, she wanted to help. Burke and Johnson’s friendship first started three years ago in the Dunkin’ drive-thru line. “I go every morning. Ebony has worked at the drive-thru for three years and really has provided amazing customer service.”

After noticing that Johnson was not working her usual shift for a few weeks, she reached out to her to make sure everything was okay. She learned that Johnson, a mother of three, had been evicted from her Mount Healthy home and had nowhere to live. Burke knew she had to do something to help. “I just wanted to see if I could help her just improve her life and the life of her kids. ” Burke said.

With assistance from local nonprofit organizations and designers, Burke was able to surprise Johnson and her kids with a new, fully-furnished home — just in time for the holidays. She called New Life Furniture Bank, a gently-used furnishing bank for those in need, and staging designer Jo Potvin of Design to Market for help. Potvin and the local organization ended up working together to fully furnish and decorate the new home for Johnson and her kids so that it was move-in ready.

The final result was unveiled to Johnson and her family and the emotional moment was captured by a local news organization. “Thank y’all so much,” Johnson said through tears. “Thank you so much for helping me.” Ebony told the news station “The Lord really looked out for me because I kept praying and saying ‘can I be at home before Christmas?” Ebony and her three young kids all shared smiles, tears and excitement during the unveiling.

Potvin said she couldn’t think of a better time to have surprised Johnson. “It’s the perfect time of the year to feel like you’re spreading joy” Potvin told the station. Executive director of New Life Furniture Bank, Dana Saxton shared the same sentiment. “It’s as much a gift for us as it is for them, to be able to provide this for them,” Saxton said.

New Life Furniture Bank also shared the happy moment in a Facebook post. “We’re so pleased to partner with Jo Potvin and her talented design team at Design to Market Home Staging to make Ebony’s family feel LOVED during the holiday season. Ebony, a hardworking mom and beloved Dunkin’ employee… found herself homeless. A group of caring people in our community worked together to make sure Ebony and her kids are living in a warm and comfortable home -just in time for Christmas.”