Over the past few months, Fountain Hills residents have been streaming into the local Rainbow Donuts to support a family in need.

“Hi I’m owner rainbow donuts and I have blood cancer so now only my wife and daughter work and my wife is the baker bake all the donuts by herself,” wrote Mundath Sok on a June 27 Facebook post. “Please support us to handle the shop until I get better thank you.”

What followed was an outpouring of support from the Fountain Hills community wishing speedy recovery and promising a visit to the struggling donut shop. The hashtag, #savethedonuts has popped up across social media as local patrons purchase donuts by the dozen for businesses and families across town.

“Get well. You can count on me to keep purchasing the best donuts ever,” wrote one commenter. “I’ll be there to buy donuts if it will sustain Rainbow Donut family,” wrote another. One recent commenter even offered to volunteer their time and pay for a donut-making training session.

“Right now, we’re doing good because a lot of people come in and buy donuts,” Kim Tun said, Sok’s partner, who has been taking care of their three children and running the shop seven days a week with their daughter, Rachana. Tun set up a GoFundMe page where the community has donated nearly $7,000 as of this writing toward their goal of raising $50,000.

Love, down to the bone

On Wednesday, July 26, Sok’s bone marrow transplant was successfully completed at HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center, Tun said. Following the procedure, Sok received a few treatments of chemotherapy and is now working on getting his energy back. A full recovery is expected to take anywhere from six to 12 months.

Sok’s procedure was an allogeneic transplant, meaning the stem-cell donor shared the same genetic type as the patient. In Sok’s case, the donor was his 17-year-old daughter, Rachana.

“I’ll do anything for my dad,” Rachana said. Following the transplant, Rachana said she was pretty shaky and had low energy for a few days, but is now fully recovered and back to work. When both Sok and Rachana were recovering, Tun had to close up shop to look after them as they recuperated.

Bright and early

Seven days a week, Tun wakes up at midnight to make the hour drive from her home in Glendale to the donut shop in Fountain Hills. At 1 a.m., she begins her process of mixing, proofing, baking, frying and dipping the donuts in a variety of mouthwatering flavors. Tun’s goal is to make 50 dozen donuts by 8 a.m., which doesn’t include cake donuts and other menu items like smoothies, coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Aside from donuts, Rainbow Donut’s most popular item is the breakfast burrito, which is prepared to order and served all day.

In the summertime, Rachana helps at the shop every day with Tun. With school back in session, Rachana works only on the weekends.

While Tun churns out dozens of fresh donuts in the kitchen, Rachana runs the front of the store while taking orders from the drive-thru. At 6 a.m. on a Tuesday, Tun hands off a new tray of donuts to Rachana, who promptly adds them to the lighted display case. After taking an order through her headset, Rachana quickly pivots to the breakfast counter and, within seconds, hands over a Boston creme donut and a freshly-made breakfast burrito to a happy customer at the drive-thru window.

“Every day, same old,” Tun said.

Resilient family

Over the last few days, an overnight bout of rain caused a leak in the dining area, leaving a small puddle on the ground near the shop’s entrance.

“It was like this when I came in this morning,” Tun said, who put a few traffic cones around the puddle. With so much going on and so little time, the leak is one of many hurdles the Rainbow Donut family has encountered these last few months.

Rainbow Donuts in Fountain Hills is the family’s second donut shop. The first, located in Glendale, closed in June on account of an accident involving a vehicle that crashed into the donut shop. Tun said the driver was asleep at the wheel when the accident occurred. The shop has remained closed while repairs are ongoing.

Despite the setbacks, Tun and Rachana are easy to laugh and work diligently. Tun said she’s thankful for the community for its support and looks forward to the good health of her husband.

“I appreciate [the community members] for their help and for helping me keep my business going,” she said.

As Rachana enters her last year at Moon Valley High School, she plans to attend college and become a nurse. She’s eying Arizona State University or Northern Arizona University.

“It’s been my dream since I was young,” she said. With college on the horizon and her father on the mend, Rachana is hopeful for a future with a healthy, happy family.

“I want to help my dad,” Rachana said. “If there’s something [I can do] to help him, I will help. I just don’t want him to be sick.”

Rainbow Donuts is located at 17224 E Shea Blvd. in Fountain Hills. It is open 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.