Benefit concert to aid Nick Ward

Gnat’s Landing will host a benefit concert tonight to help raise money for hospital costs of a Georgia Southern University student who was hit by a car on Feb. 8.

Nick Ward was hit by a drunk driver near the Avenue apartment complex and is still in the hospital. Band members from Those Cats are friends with Ward and will play at Gnat’s Landing tonight at 10 p.m. and Loco’s on Monday night at 8 p.m. to raise money for Ward’s family.

“Nick is a friend of the band, I met him through Scott, our drummer. Nick would always come to our shows and help us sell merchandise. He is always looking out for us and taking care of us, so we wanted to do something nice for him and his family,” Cyril Durant, vocalist of Those Cats, said.

Cyril Durant, Jake Manahan and Jason Lamson will all be performing at the concert. The musicians will be playing for free and many of the staff will be donating to the cause as well.

“Nick works here at Locos, and we know he is into live music, so I thought we could have some guys come in and just have an open mic jam session,” Joe Lanier, owner of Locos, said.

“A lot of our servers said they wanted to donate their tips. Some people came to me and said ‘I want to donate my wages for the night.’ It has been a big family effort to raise money in support,” Lanier said.

Raffle tickets for Chris Mitchell’s Ashlee Model guitar will be sold for $5 at both events. The proceeds will go directly to Ward’s family.

“There’ll be people there selling rubber bracelets and we’ll be donating all merchandise proceeds to Nick Ward’s family,” Durant said.

The proceeds raised through merchandise sales will help Ward’s family cover the hospital costs and anything else they might need, Durant said.

Both shows are free and open to the public. Donations for the victim’s family are welcome