GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Team members at the Northland Drive McDonald's in Plainfield Township came together for their colleague Susan Vanderwall.
Vanderwall has only worked at the restaurant for over a year, but has already won over the hearts of her fellow teammates and customers.
Her old car that she drove to work everyday had a missing headlight, no front bumper and windows that won't go up.
"[It was] in very rough shape," said Vanderwall. "Very rough. I was just kind of putting up with it until I could figure out what to do."
That's why managers and crew members collaborated to surprise Vanderwall with a Buick, raising funds through an online fundraiser and even collecting pop cans for some extra cash.
Vanderwall thought the team was expecting a visit from corporate. Instead of a normal visit, however, they handed her the keys to her new car inside of an envelope.
"I can't believe that they did this for me," said Vanderwall.
Crew Trainer Madison Zimmerman helped rally the team together.
"Everyone loves her," said Zimmerman. "All of our co workers love for all of our customers love her. And we know that her car was in rough shape."
The surprise takes some anxiety from Zimmerman, too.
"Now, we don't have to worry about her maybe like breaking down on the side of the road or her car not starting not being able to make it to work, or like something happening to it," said Zimmerman. "It just feels good."
Vanderwall said she doesn't have any plans for a road trip any time soon. Instead, she's focusing on helping her teammates at her favorite place to be.
"I always say when people ask me about working here, I always say this is the best set of managers I've ever worked with," said Vanderwall.
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