Coffee shop employees donate tips to help co-worker pay medical bills

SCHERERVILLE, Ind. (WLS) -- A new mother was facing a mountain of medical bills after her child born with a severe heart defect. Now, the mother's co-workers are pitching in to help.

Keign Robbins is just five months old, and he's already had heart surgery four times. His mother says it's been hard, but she's getting support from a place she never expected.

"I was absolutely shocked. I wasn't expecting it. But then it didn't surprise me because they're all such wonderful people," Kayla Robinson said.

Robinson has worked at The Coffee Cabin in Schererville since it opened, just about a year. Even though their time together has been short, she says that the people who work there are like family.

"I love every single one of them," Robinson said.

Days after Keign was born, doctors found something seriously wrong with his heart. As the tiny baby went under the knife again and again, his mother's co-workers looked for any way to help. Then, they saw the family had started a GoFundMe page to help with the medical bills.

"So I figured why don't we donate our tips to them? So I talked to everybody -- the rest of the team -- and they all thought it was a good idea," Alex Gomez said.

The tip jar at The Coffee Cabin is about as small as Keign, but for his family, it's a gesture worth more than any amount of money.

"It's the most amazing feeling ever," Robinson said.

Keign is back home now, but doctors are keeping a close eye on him. His mom says it's possible he'll need a heart transplant.

Whatever happens, she knows her Coffee Cabin family has her back.