Community rallies to help local business owner battling cancer

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) - Some Green Bay Area Firefighters will soon be trading their helmets and hoses for aprons and spatulas. They'll be taking over a popular local eatery, all in an effort to help it's owner who's battling cancer.

A local landmark for nearly two decades, Mill Town Cafe has become a family affair for owners Mike and Bonnie Homan.

"Me and my husband came in this together," Bonnie explained. "and now our son is here with us and my daughter works a little bit."

Not only that, but the customers all know Bonnie, too.

"They're friends and they get to be your family, too," she said.

"She is a jokester," customer Dale Davister said. "A lot of jokes. It's fun coming just to see what she comes up with."

So when Bonnie was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer earlier this year, the community came calling.

"From then I just started going to the doctor," Bonnie said. "I'd get chemo."

Next Friday, Bonnie will undergo a bone marrow transplant in Milwaukee. So her family can be by her side, a group of Green Bay Area Firefighters will run the Mill.

"We're going to get firefighters from all over Green Bay, Allouez, De Pere," Chad Bronkhorst, President of the Green Bay Area Firefighters, explained. "They're going to come in, spend the day here serving and cooking."

Bronkhorst is a regular customer.

"It's a family that can't rely on a brand name to bring business in," he added. "They rely on the community so to give a little bit back to them, we felt was very, very appropriate."

"That is truly just the most incredible thing that I have ever heard," Mike said.

Bonnie calls it the best Christmas gift a girl could get.

"That is unbelievable," she remarked. "I can't believe that. They're so fantastic."

The cafe will be open regular hours Friday, December  21st. That's from 5:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Local firefighters will cook, serve and clean. They'll even be offering their special Firehouse Chili, both inside and to-go out in the parking lot.