Community steps up to help Grist House employee who lost everything in Millvale fire
At the Grist House Beer Crib on Pittsburgh Road in Butler, Thursday nights usually have a more subdued crowd, but not on this particular Thursday.
This time around, the bar was packed with people to support a Grist House employee who lost his home in a fire last week in Millvale.
"We get bumping on the weekends and everything, but this is different for a Thursday, for sure," said Stephen Yonushonis, a bartender who lost everything in the fire Feb. 24 at the Millvilla Apartment Building.
Bar patrons had food, drinks and made individual donations into buckets labeled "Help Stephen Rebuild," all to support Yonushonis in his efforts to get back on his feet.
"They've been donating extensively," Yonushonis said. "It's been a great thing to see everybody come together the way they have. It's a very humbling experience."
Yonushonis said it means even more to him to see his community come together and enjoy themselves while supporting him.
"I love it, and they're all bonding with each other over it, too," he said. "It's not just about me. It's a community for everyone."
His neighbors and co-workers describe him as kind, quiet and humble, and they didn't hesitate to support him.
"It's wonderful," said Laura Plummer. "He's been here since Grist House took the place here, and he's just wonderful. He's a really good time, and I think it's really nice that everybody comes down here to support."
In the midst of adversity, he's also kept a positive outlook and looks at his losses as "just stuff."
"I was lucky to not have been in the building when it happened," he said. "And the fact that the people that were in there were able to get out as safely as they did, this could've been a million times worse than it was."
Yonushonis also praised the response of his neighbors in Millvale and their support.
"Just seeing them looking out for everybody else, it's just a great thing to witness," he said. "We look out for each other down there, so I love them. I love everybody down there."
In a region where being a good neighbor is the tagline of one of its most famous natives — Fred Rogers — neighbors came out to Butler County on Thursday to share a night out with one of their own.
"He's very appreciative, overwhelmed at how much the community came out to support him," Plummer said.
"I know it's weird to make it about me, but I don't know how to put it into words," Yonushonis said. "It means the world to me, even if I wasn't involved in that fire."
