Friday night, Ferg's Sports Bar & Grill is hosting a benefit for bartender Cassie Andonian who is in a coma following a motorcycle accident.
Ferg's Sports Bar and Grill is used to hosting fundraisers and benefits for organizations, members of the community and people in need.
Friday night, Ferg's is hoping the St. Petersburg community will come out for another benefit — this time for one of their own.
Ferg's bartender Cassie Andonian, of Westchase, is currently in a coma at Bayfront Medical Center following a serious motorcycle accident on Jan. 9.
According to Ferg's, Andonian is a single mother of a 5-year-old girl and has no insurance. Money raised from Friday's benefit will go toward medical bills and the needs of Andonian’s daughter, Bella.
Andonian, "was critically injured when someone pulled out in front of the motorcycle that she was a passenger on," said Zeb Apostolakis who does marketing for Ferg's. "She is at Bayfront Hospital fighting for her life."
The benefit starts at 7 p.m. Friday night at Ferg's. There will be a silent auction, live music, raffles, celebrity appearances, food & drinks and prayer.
"We want to again thank the Ferg's Family of Customers as we continue to pray for Cassie Andonian," Ferg's owner Mark Ferguson wrote on Facebook. "As the owners of a large restaurant, Sherry and I have received many requests for help or participation over the last 20 years. We have always tried to do our best whenever we could offer support. Now we are asking for your help."
As Ferg's is organizing the benefit on the fly, they are asking the public for a few things, which they posted on Facebook.
1) Prayer
2) Please "Share" your _choice of FB posts_ about the event.
3) Donation of any items from local businesses that we can use to raise money. You can either request to be present during the event or we will put you on our Donation Partners page at FergsSportsBar.com or both. Please send email to Ferg@FergsSportsBar.com
4) We are accepting celebrity appearance offers from people in the Tampa Bay area that would like to donate their time to support the event. There are many kind and considerate Role Models in our area. If you know one, please share Cassie's story. We have hired security specifically for these generous individuals. Please send email to Ferg@FergsSportsBar.com
5) Any ideas or offers to help will be greatly appreciated. We will post links concerning the event and any updates on Cassie's condition prior to the event on Friday.
6) We are accepting donations at Ferg's or online at www.FergsSportsBar.com
Shortly after the accident Ferg's owner Mark Ferguson said, "I am overwhelmed by the amazing response from the Ferg's customer family concerning Cassie's terrible accident," Ferguson wrote on Facebook. "Please continue to pray for Cassie and her young daughter as she fights for her life. We will be posting updates at our website and you can also add us to your Twitter account there. For those of you that are able, we are setting up 'Cassie's Tip jar' at the inside bar at Ferg's to help Cassie with expenses. Cassie did not have insurance or savings prior to the accident."
If you cannot make the benefit Friday night, you can donate online by clicking here.
