CLAYTON, Mo. — Inside Clayton's Kingside Diner, there are all the usual markers that staff expects an evening rush. Bartenders cut lime wedges. Drinks chill on ice.
But this is no ordinary dinner service.
There's a donation box at the front door for Olivia Freyer.
"I think a lot of people just realize they just look at her and they realize, 'that could be my fiance, that could be me, that could be my daughter," organizer Amanda Wilgus Manns said.
Wilgus Manns organized this fundraiser for her friend, Freyer, who is back at work after an attempted carjacker's bullet narrowly missed her heart in August, cutting a line just 4 millimeters away from the vital organ.
As bills continue to come in, Freyer's been told to expect a 6-figure total -- up to half-a-million dollars in medical expenses.
"After you go through this traumatic experience, nobody should have this financial burden that she now has," Wilgus Manns said.
Like a lot of servers, Freyer doesn't have health insurance so other members of the restaurant industry are now collecting ten dollars at the door, 1-buck donations for drinks. There are a silent auction and a raffle.
As Olivia finds friends in the crowd, hugging each one, her boyfriend Spencer Sickmann captures these moments of support with his camera. It's a welcome change after months of overseeing Freyer's recovery.
"It's days like today that kind of tell her — once again — things are going to be OK," Sickmann said.
A GoFundMe account's already raised $33,000 for Freyer since it was launched in August. The money raised at Kingside won't cover the remaining cost of Freyer's recovery -- but each dollar is a small bite out of the total owed.
"There's no amount of times that we could say 'thank you' that would really show our gratitude," Sickmann said. "It really has given us hope."
To donate to Freyer's fundraiser, click here.
Contact reporter Sara Machi on Facebook and Twitter.
