When diagnosed with an illness like cancer, all kinds of thoughts run through a patient’s mind. How to continue to provide for one’s family is always a concern. Ace store owners in Nebraska stepped up to help two of their employees in need.

Erin Hotovy is the store manager at David City Ace Hardware. In January 2018, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer that was going to require 9 months of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant to treat. With major leave ahead for medical treatment, Erin was worried about his job and his ability to support his family.

Blake Burgess and his wife Casey own three Ace Hardware locations, including the David City store where Erin works. "Casey and I just had a discussion about what we could do to try and help him out," Blake said. "And the thing we came up with was, ‘We’re just going to keep paying him like he was on the payroll.’"

"The last thing we wanted him to worry about was where his next paycheck was coming from," Casey said.

For the Burgess family, helping to take care of their employee was the right call. So when another employee, Melanie Dorrow, was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer, they knew what they had to do.

"He gave me a big hug and then he said, ‘Don’t worry about anything,’" Melanie said. "Casey and I are going to take care of you. Just get better. Your paycheck will be there."

"Knowing these people have my back like they do, it makes it a little less scary," Erin said. "They’re just such generous, good people. They just embody everything Ace is about."

For Blake and Casey, helping their employees is a rewarding part of their job. "We’re going to continue to do what we think is the right thing and take care of the people that we’ve been blessed to serve," Blake said.