North Royalton Browns Backers bar raises thousands of dollars for charity

NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio (WOIO) - Whenever the Cleveland Browns play, hundreds of fans pack inside Niko’s Bar & Gyros on Royalton Road to root them on.

Niko’s hosts the North Royalton Browns Backers chapter weekly for games.

The goal of Browns Backers chapters is to give back to their local communities along with rooting for the Browns.

“It’s loud. It’s really loud in here. Almost standing room only, pretty high energy. We have our own chants,” said Tim Rudnick, the president of the North Royalton Browns Backers chapter.

“I think the work that we do in North Royalton. We’ve established an ongoing scholarship fund at the high school that we give to four seniors every year. That’s been the single best thing is giving the kids scholarships. We’re very involved with the fire department and police department. Last year we gave almost 20,000 dollars back to North Royalton charities,” said Rudnick.

However, all this wouldn’t be possible if the fans didn’t have a place to watch the games and raise money.

“Tim and I met when Niko’s was half the size. Good customer of mine and then he brought to my attention if I wanted to be a browns backer bar and 100 percent being a Clevelander my whole life. So he made that happen. We approached each other where we hit off was we had the same beliefs on the local charities that we wanted too help out our local communities,” said Niko Moulagianis, owner of Niko’s Bar & Gyros.

Years later it’s turned into Niko expanding his bar to fit more people for gameday, and a place people in need can rely on.

“Together our club and Niko have done so much good in North Royalton that it’s something I don’t know we will ever be able to replace or duplicate,” said Rudnick.

Even when the Browns lose and fans leave Niko’s broken-hearted, these fans can hold their head high knowing they are helping out their community.

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