Hundreds visited a restaurant in Luzerne County Thursday for more than just a meal.
It was a fundraising event for the family of 14-year-old Tyler Winstead.
The boy was shot and killed earlier this month and money collected will go to a memorial fund in the teenager`s name.
People packed into Cork Restaurant and it was all for a good cause.
“It's senseless,” said diner Lisa Hutchings. “And if there's anything I can do to help support the family and I think this is a wonderful event, that's why I'm here participating.”
Wilkes-Barre police said Tyler was shot and killed on Hill Street on April 5, the street where he lived. He was walking back from the Catholic Youth Center with a friend where he had been playing basketball.
No arrests have been made.
Cork owner Ruth Corcoran is on the board of directors of the CYC and said she wanted to do something for the family.
“I don't know the family and I didn't know Tyler but I read about it in the paper and it just stuck with me,” said Corcoran. “I'm on the board of the CYC and I talked to them and they said he was just a wonderful child. He was there everyday after school.”
Twenty-five percent of Cork's sales all day Thursday will go to the Tyler Winstead Memorial Fund. The wait staff also donated all the tips.
Raffle tickets were sold so diners could bid on donated gift baskets.
Tyler's family was among those having dinner and they were overwhelmed by the turnout.
“Good feelings, right here, good feelings,” said Tyler’s grandfather, Willie Golden.
The family wants Tyler's memorial fund to be used as a scholarship so another teenager can enjoy some of the programs at the CYC.
“He would like that. He spent a lot of time there, wish he was here to do it some more,” said Golden.
Donations can be made to Tyler’s fund at Bank of America. Checks should be made out to the Tyler Winstead Memorial Fund.
