Visit your favorite area craft brewery on Saturday, and odds are a portion of your tab will help support survivors and victims of the Nov. 19 mass shooting at Club Q.
More than 20 local breweries have signed on to participate in the “Brews for Q” fundraiser, agreeing to pass on part of the day’s sales to charity campaigns set up after the attack that killed five and injured 18, just before midnight, at the popular LGBTQ+-friendly dance club in Colorado Springs.
At Peaks N’ Pines, $2 of every pint sold Saturday will go to verified campaigns raising money for people injured in the shooting and the families of those who died, said brewery owner Teresa Vieira, who helped spearhead the fundraising efforts.
On Sunday and into Monday morning, Vieira said she and other brewers were already making plans to host a fundraiser to benefit the victims of the attack.
That was before they learned that members of the Colorado Springs “brewing family” were among the injured, and the hero who helped stop the massacre was one of their own.
Richard Fierro, the “hero vet” who helped tackle and disarm the 6-foot-4 accused shooter — halting the spray of gunfire and keeping the suspect pinned down until police arrived — is a member of the city’s tight-knit brewing community.
Fierro and his wife Jessica opened their award-winning Atrevida Beer Co. in 2018. Both suffered non-gunshot injuries in the attack at Club Q. Their daughter, Kassy Fierro — who helps her parents brew and run the business — broke her knee cap trying to flee the gunman. Kassy's boyfriend and longtime Fierro family friend, 22-year-old Raymond Green Vance, was among the casualties.
"It was never a question of, should we do something? It was, what do we do? Even before we knew one of our own was involved,” Vieira said. “When we found that out, that just kicked it into high gear.”
With so much of Atrevida's core staff recovering from injuries — not to mention the trauma they’ll likely spend the rest of their lives working through — the Colorado Springs brewing community is stepping up in any way to help, Vieira said.
With financial support, to aid recovery outside the professional sphere, as well help with the business, should that be needed.
"If they need someone to help brew beer, or at the counter, we're there for them," Vieira said. “It’s just unbelievable horror. I can’t imagine what the families are going through, what poor Jessica and Rich and Kassy are grappling with every day … and now, for the rest of their lives. But they know we're here for them, in whatever way they need us.”
On Wednesday morning, Richard Fierro posted an emotional message on his personal Facebook page thanking the community for its support.
“I am humbled to have known all of you. I am a better man to have met all of you. To see such an outpouring of love ... my family and I are blessed to have each of you in our lives,” he wrote. “This event has forever changed our journey but knowing the love of all of you is helping us take another step forward.
“Love to all of you supporting our little family, brewery, and life journey," he wrote. "I owe every one of you a hug and gratitude for being a part of our lives.”
