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Sedgwick residents are pulling together to help defray medical costs and funeral expenses for the family of Taylor Sowell, a young mother killed Oct. 6 when a train struck her car in Harvey County.
On Saturday, Wichita venue Innovo will take cash and check donations during the first concert of its new, quarterly concert series, Live at Innovo.
Soft rock acoustic artist Caleb McGinn, the 2012 International Acoustic Music Award songwriter of the year, and Jerrod Byrne will perform at 7 p.m. at Innovo, 215 N. St. Francis.
Concert tickets are $5. Doors open at 6 p.m. The venue closes at 9. The show is open to all ages.
Donations for the Sowells will be accepted throughout the evening at the door, said concert promoter T.J. Wells-Lee, a Sedgwick resident.
“It really crushed this town. Big time,” Well-Lee said of 18-year-old Taylor Sowell’s death.
“Sedgwick hasn’t had a tragedy like this for a long time.”
Sowell, a recent Sedgwick High School graduate and new nursing student, died from head injuries after a train hit her car when she tried to drive over an elevated crossing. Her husband, 20-year-old Dylan Sowell, and brother, Kyle Malek, 17, were also injured in the crash.
The newlywed couple’s 8-month-old daughter, Laken, was with a baby sitter when the accident occurred.
Taylor Sowell’s memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Riverlawn Christian Church, 4243 N. Meridian in Wichita.
Wells-Lee said the concert is “a good forum for raising money for this girl because from what I understand the family just doesn’t have much.”
Checks may be made payable to the Taylor Malek Sowell Memorial Fund. Details are available at Live at Innovo on Facebook.
Fundraising for the family continues Sunday during a barbecue dinner and auction, set for 5 p.m. at Sedgwick Grade School, 400 W. Fourth St. in Sedgwick.
Donations will be accepted throughout the event.
Later in October, Sedgwick’s Salon Halo is hosting a “Cut A Thon,” also benefitting the Sowell family.
Stylists will give haircuts for $10 each on Oct. 27 at the salon, 102 W. Fifth St. Men and boys’ will be taken on a walk-in basis from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; women’s and children’s dry cuts are from 9 a.m. to noon. For more information, find the Salon Halo Cut A Thon on Facebook.
Other donations may be made in care of the Taylor Malek Sowell Memorial Fund and sent to: Legacy Bank, 514 N. Commercial, Sedgwick, KS 67135.
