Many of us know Pasquale’s as the beloved pizza shop that we’ll usually go to on a Friday night for a nice little family dinner. But, yesterday (October 22, 2025) and today (October 23, 2025) from 11 AM to 9 PM, Pasquale’s Pizza hosted a two-day fundraiser to help benefit the Parkland 17 memorial foundation.

The Parkland 17 Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Florida not-for-profit organization that was established to build the official public memorial honoring the 17 lives that were lost during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. This memorial foundation has been overseeing the nationwide design competition for the public memorial.

Most people already know about the heartbreaking shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, 7 years ago on February 14, 2018. The 17 innocent lives that were lost that day were: Alyssa Alhadeff, Scott Beigel, Martin Duque Anguiano Jr., Nicholas Dworet, Aaron Feis, Jaime Guttenberg, Chris Hixon, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup, and Peter Wang.

Pasquale’s has decided to donate 20% of their sales from dine-in and take-out orders from October 22-23. Hoping that the funds they raised through this event will support the construction of the memorial.

“We must honor those lost on that tragic day,” said Foundation Chair Michael Moser, First Responder Representative. “We hope that as we come together again on February 14 to remember those who perished so tragically seven years ago, our community can also find it in our hearts to continue to support these families and help the community heal by donating to the Memorial.”

Now, let’s get some input from some other people whom I interviewed. My questions were: “What are your thoughts on the fundraiser?”, “How do you feel about the lives that were lost in the shooting?”, and “Are you planning to donate?” The first person I interviewed was Zoe Wilson, a sophomore at Coral Glades High. To the first question, she answered, “I think it’s a great idea by Pasquale’s, and I think it’s a good thing that restaurants and the community get together for this because it was a traumatic event for all the people in the school and families, and it’s nice that a place like Pasquale’s is willing to help.” To the second question, she answered, “I feel bad, it affected our community in a wide aspect, but I was too young to understand what was happening, and it didn’t affect me as much at the time. It affected my parents because my dad was the 2nd graduating class of Douglas, and my mom was the 3rd or 4th.” Then, finally, to the last question, she responded with, “I’d love to, but at this time I can’t, but when I have more to give, I will.”

Lastly, I asked my friend Grace Grasso (who attends Calvary Christian Academy) the same questions as Zoe. Her response to the first question was, “My thoughts on the fundraiser are that it’s a good way to help the families that were affected by this tragic loss.”. Her response to the second question was, “I feel very sad about the lives lost during the shooting. What happened was terrible, and I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone.”. Then, to the last question, she responded with, “Yes, I’m planning to donate because I would love to help and give back to those grieving the loss of their children, classmates, or students.”

If you missed the fundraiser or didn’t get a chance to donate, no worries! You can visit The Parkland 17 Foundation at https://parkland17.org/donate/. When you press this link here, you will be directed to their website, where you can learn about the foundation, memorial, read quotes from the families and friends of the 17 lost lives, and donate money to help honor the memory of those taken too soon.