Benefit for Mareshah Shepard, Tonight at Walter’s

Man. I hadn’t heard about this ’til very, very recently, and I’m still feeling sick about it; I didn’t know Mareshah Shepard, but as somebody who’s dodged cars many times on Washington Ave. (esp. late at night, when the drunks are all coming out of the bars & getting behind the wheel), this feels awful damn close to home.

Apparently Ms. Shepard was crossing Washington at the intersection of Washington & Thompson — which is the corner next to the Salt/Pearl Bars, where the old Mary Jane’s used to be — and was hit by a drunk driver. She’s alive, thankfully, but reportedly has serious brain damage and is in critical condition. She’s only 23 years old, and I think she’s also related to Blake Shepard, singer for local electro-soul guys {Electric Attitude} (I could be wrong about that, though, so don’t quote me, eh?). My heart goes out to the whole family — I can’t even imagine going through something like this with my kids, in particular.

There’s a show tonight (Thurs., August 26th) up at Walter’s, right across the street from where it happened, and a bunch of excellent, excellent, good-hearted bands are donating their time & talent to help raise money to help her family pay the medical bills (which I’m guessing are pretty insane). Electric Attitude’s on the bill, as are {The Sideshow Tramps}, Roky Moon & BOLT, {Young Girls}, & {The Live Lights}, all of whom are well worth checking out even if there wasn’t some kind of charitable impetus to do so.

Several local businesses are donating stuff for a raffle, too, and you can donate online at the Website HelpMaresha.org. Hit the show, give some money, do whatever you can, folks.