The only thing sweeter than the donuts at Donut City is the community's love for the restaurant owners.

Almost every day for the last 28 years, John and Stella Chhan have opened up their donut shop in Seal Beach, California at 4:30AM. They're always greeting customers with a smile, and they barely ever take a day off.

So when Stella stopped showing up behind the counter, the customers asked John about her absence – and they were shocked by his response.

Since Stella suffered a brain aneurysm last month, she has been recovering at a nursing care facility. Though she has slowly regained some of her strength, she was in bad shape after being taken to the emergency room.

John was devastated by the incident, but grateful when she finally started to show signs of recovery. He has continued to run the shop by himself (with some help from Stella's sister), and always returns to her side once he is done with the day's work.

One of the Chhan's regular customers at Donut City heard about their situation and came up with an idea: if everyone in the community bought more of the restaurant's donuts, then John could close the shop early and spend more time with his wife.

After posting her idea to a community social media page, locals immediately stepped up to the plate. People started buying donuts, croissants, and muffins by the dozen.

Over the course of the last few weeks, John has sold out of pastries several hours earlier than usual—sometimes he can even close the store at 10AM.

He's also been quick to express his overwhelming gratitude for the support. "We are so thankful," he told the OC Register with hands over his heart.

The people of Seal Beach are more than happy to help out their favorite donut shop proprietors. They even tried to set up a GoFundMe page for the Chhans, but John said that he already has enough money – he is just happy to spend time with Stella.

(WATCH the video below) – Photo by KABC

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