SPOKANE, Wash. — Prohibition Gastropub hosted a fundraiser on Sunday for a local bartender who was shot and injured in a drive-by shooting outside Lucky’s Irish Pub last weekend.
The fundraiser will be between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and all proceeds from the food will go to Katelyn Corigliano to help pay her medical bills and recoup some of the wages she will lose as she recovers.
The fundraiser will feature a limited menu, according to a Facebook post from chef and owner Michael Wiley.
Wiley said when he heard the news of the shooting, he thought of how he could help those grieving and suffering. When Wiley learned Corigliano was a member of the food industry, he said he wanted to do something for her.
"It seemed like a really great opportunity for us to create some positive energy," Wiley said. "Especially when we were not originally been able to set out on what we wanted to do today."
In the post, he said Easter would normally be one of the restaurant's most profitable days, but after considering staffing issues, he planned to close for the holiday. Instead of taking the day off, the restaurant is using the day to host Corigliano's fundraiser.
"Katie and I might not be great friends and know each other really well, but because she’s a bartender, she’s family,” Wiley said.
Wiley's restaurant team prepped enough food for 300 guests. Wiley said his goal is to raise at least $1000.
“If we hit our goal of raising enough money for Katie, then we would take whatever’s left and distribute it to those other causes too just to try and do anything we can to be a part of that as well,” Wiley said.
Other victims include a taxi cab driver who was sitting in her vehicle when she was shot and a man who was shot while standing in front of Lucky’s. She currently has a GoFundMe page set to help fund her recovery. The man's GoFundMe page has raised $18,000 to help cover medial bills.
Corigliano was shot in the leg and suffered a compound bone fracture. In addition to the fundraiser there is also a GoFundMe page set up that has raised over $15,000.
According to Corigliano's GoFundMe page organizer, Tony Brown, Corigliano is at home resting and doing physical therapy. Brown said Corigliano seems to be in high spirits.