Draft and Vessel to host fundraiser for family impacted by deadly crash: 'I have 4 daughters myself'

SHOREWOOD -- The community will come together Monday, April 8 to support a Shorewood family involved in a deadly crash near Cottage Grove in Dane County Sunday, March 31. Megan Frieseke died, and her twin sister Emily remained hospitalized Sunday, April 7.

Draft and Vessel on Monday evening, April 8 will host a fundraiser for the Frieseke family.

The venue holds about 50 people, but owner Nathaniel Davauer said Sunday he was expecting about 650 for Monday's fundraiser.

Megan and Emily Frieseke

Nathaniel Davauer

"I wanna help, but I don't know how to help, and this is maybe one way I could help so I figured, well I could do that," said Davauer.

The fundraiser will be held at the wine and beer bar from 3 p.m. until midnight. Every penny will be donated to the Frieseke family. Emily Frieseke, 17, a Shorewood High School junior, suffered life-threatening injuries when she was ejected during the rollover crash on I-94 eastbound near Cottage Grove. Her twin sister Megan was killed.

"I have four daughters myself, so it's very easy for me to empathize," said Davauer. "I live in the same place with a similar family and go to the same schools."

Draft and Vessel

FOX6 caught up with Davauer as he worked in the rain to build a patio to accomodate the crowd.

"I have a place people can go in public. Come as you are. Come if you like. I guess you get together with other people who feel a similar way and sort of share the feelings with them. My worry is that this looks like I'm trying to do something special, and honestly I'm not. I'm just trying to do whatever little bit I could," said Davauer.

Another way to help is through a GoFundMe.com account set up for the family. CLICK HERE to access that page.