If you’ve ever been to a Dunkin Donuts in the Mayport area of Jacksonville, Florida, you might have been served by one of its friendliest workers, Diosella Snyder, also known as “Dunkin’ Dee.”
Dee, 80, has worked at the Dunkin’ Donuts location for over 30 years. A customer, Teagan Fogarty, described her as “very warm.”
“She always calls me sweetie,” Fogarty said.
The Mayport Dunkin’ Donuts owner, Christina Leal, said Dee is “like the heart of this store.”
Leal has owned it for about 15 years but quickly realized who she really had to “answer” to.
“We came down to do some preliminary inspections and she knew we were coming and she greeted us and she was very inquisitive wondering what we were doing in her store and she thinks of this store as her own,” she explained.
Dee is clearly happy to work in the store. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have lasted three decades.
“You can talk, you listen to their problems, they listen to my problems and I think it’s nice,” she said.
Dee likes transforming the store into a holiday display when there’s an occasion, but she hadn’t done so for quite some time last year when she ran into a string of problems.
Dee contracted COVID-19 early in 2021. Her husband found her unconscious and with broken bones in her face after she was struck by an object while she was doing yard work.
Dee was also plagued by bad luck while she was at the hospital. She had over 40 broken bones on her left cheek and shoulders.
“She was totally out in a coma and when she woke up all her jewelry was gone had been stolen her clothes were gone she had to leave the hospital just in a hospital gown she didn’t have clothes to leave,” Leal said.
Dee has more than $10,000 in unpaid medical bills. Worse, Dee had to pay them with a high interest credit card which she is struggling to repay.
Dee also faced problems at home. Her roof collapsed and her entire air conditioner unit had to be replaced. Her van broke down as well.
“Right now, Mrs. Dee needs our help!” Leal wrote in a GoFundMe that she and the rest of the team at the Dunkin’ store organized. “She is 80 years old and she is continuing to work hard to serve our community! It is time to help give back to this woman who literally pours her heart into each and every cup of coffee she makes!”
Dee’s Dunkin’ family wanted to do their part in helping her get through these financial problems.
“I had to one day just ask her, Miss Dee do you trust me and she said yes I trust you and I said do you trust me enough to give me your bank account information and she said yeah of course if you promise that you’re not going to give me any money,” Leal said.
When Dee found out about their effort, she couldn’t help but cry.
“I cried when I found out because I know they are good people I never thought they’d do this for me especially my boss because she know what I’m going through because I talk to her all the time,” she said.
Leal felt it was a matter if she could give back to a hardworking woman facing financial difficulties.
“She’s served them for over 30 years, their coffee every single morning, so I felt like we kind of owed it to her and her community owed it to her to be there for her in her hard times that she was having,” she said.
Donate to this GoFundMe to help Dee with her financial woes.
Learn more about Dunkin’ Dee in the video below.
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