SUMTER, SC (WIS) -
At Outback Steakhouse in Sumter, colleagues are more than just co-workers.
"This is a family," manager Rich Adams said. "It's a family here."
Treating his staff like family means a lot to Adams. Since February, one member of his family has been battling cancer -- the restaurant's matriarch and kitchen manager, Doris Choice-Workman.
The news was a shock for bartender and friend Megan Simpson.
"I was devastated," Simpson said. "She introduced me to grits."
Doris' cancer treatment forced her to stop working after she maxed out her benefits. It's been a tough 4 months for the family. Shortly after Doris was diagnosed, her husband had a stroke.
"We need to take care of her," Adams said. "She's taken care of us for 13 years. It's now time for us to give back."
Doris' coworkers wanted to do something special for her, so they organized a fundraiser to sell $10 lunch tickets. They wanted to raise $4,000, but they far exceeded their goal.
"With all the Outbackers and people from the community donating, we were able to raise $6,000," Adams said.
All of that money will help the 40-year-old wife and mother of three take care of her family and pay her medical bills.
"I just feel really overwhelmed that my job would go out their way for me when I really, really needed it," Choice-Workman said.
"Everybody misses her," Adams said. "We need her back here."
Doris is still on chemotherapy and she will go on radiation for several weeks after chemo is completed. She's hoping she will be well enough to go back to work after her treatment is over.
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