“Modern Family” star and Utah resident Ty Burrell is joining Salt Lake City’s fundraising effort following a fire that tore through several businesses on Main Street earlier this week.
Ty Burrell fundraises for Salt Lake Main Street fire victims
“On Tuesday morning, 200 of our neighbors woke up unemployed,” Burrell said in a new video shared by Salt Lake City’s Downtown Alliance. “These are people that have taken care of us. Now it’s our turn to take care of them.”
So far, the Main Street Fire Employee Assistance Fund has raised over $75,000 of its $500,000 goal, per the Downtown Alliance’s website.
Money raised will benefit employees of downtown businesses, including London Belle, Whiskey Street, White Horse and Los Tapatios, and go toward covering day-to-day expenses like rent, groceries and transportation.
The first round of funds will be distributed to employees on Aug. 19, according to downtownslc.org.
“These are the folks who wash our dishes, serve our meals, don’t question when you show up for your fourth birthday of the month. They just stick a candle in that dessert and play along,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall joked in the video.
“Or the brave hosts and hostesses who stand their ground when I scream, ‘Don’t you know who I am?’” Burrell added.
The actor, who played Phil Dunphy on “Modern Family” for 11 seasons, co-owns Beer Bar restaurant and Bar X on 200 South in downtown Salt Lake City — about a half-mile from the Main Street fire. He also co-owns The Eating Establishment in Park City and The Cotton Bottom in Holladay, per Deseret News.
Burrell previously helped spearhead a fundraising effort at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, writing a $100,000 check to establish a fund that raised money for out-of-work servers in the local restaurant industry, as the Deseret News reported.
Ty Burrell on living in Utah
Although he’s had a home in Utah since 2008, Burrell and his family moved to the Beehive State full time after he concluded his run on “Modern Family.”
The actor and his wife, Holly — a Utah native who went to Kaysville’s Davis High School — made the move with their two daughters back in 2020.
“It’s just been spectacular,” he recently told People. “We moved here right after (’Modern Family’) ended, and I don’t have any regrets. It’s been lovely and a great place to raise the kids.”