A Silver Spring, Maryland, restaurant stepped up to help families of those lost in the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last week. All Set Restaurant and Bar is donating 100% of its proceeds that came in Tuesday to a GoFundMe setup for those impacted.
“We really feel as strongly as possible about getting all of the money directly to the victims’ families to help pay for funeral expenses,” said Jennifer Meltzer, managing partner at the restaurant on Fenton Street.
On a typical Tuesday, Meltzer said the restaurant normally sees $3,000 of sales — but hours into the evening, it surpassed that amount. By the end of the night, final sales totaled $8,580.45. A local charitable organization promised to match proceeds up to $10,000, and a local real estate developer also pledged $2,500.
Meltzer told WTOP the restaurant will donate just under $20,000 when all is said and done.
“I know that money, in no way compensates for any of their losses, but it was the least we could do,” Meltzer said.
Meltzer, who is a mother herself, came up with the idea for the fundraiser last week as she scrolled through the pictures of the victims on Twitter.
“I immediately texted my partner, who’s the chef here, and said, ‘What do you think if we donate all of our sales on Tuesday?’” Meltzer said.
The decision was made to announce on social media that on Tuesday, all proceeds the restaurant made would be donated. Once word spread, many people showed up.
Pat Garcia and her husband live in downtown Silver Spring, and she said normally on a 95-degree day, they would stay home. However, this Tuesday night, they decided to come to the restaurant for dinner.
“When I heard that they were donating all the proceeds to the victims in the massacre in Texas, I just thought this is a good reason to come out, especially for their great happy hour, and their food is excellent,” Garcia said.
Tanya Coleman drove in from D.C. with her family after she heard about the event.
“I think it’ll be a small donation, given everything that the folks in Texas are dealing with, but I hope every little bit helps,” Coleman said.
Katherine Turner is a schoolteacher in the area, and as a teacher, she said she wanted to support this fundraiser.
“It breaks my heart, what happened there and everywhere, but especially at a school,” Turner said.
There was a lot of praise among diners for what the restaurant was doing.
“The fact that they’re able to look at the bigger cause and say, you know, look beyond the profits, and to support this cause, I think it’s great, I think it’s a step in the right direction to support the families who endure this loss, but also it gives a little bit more hope to mankind,” said Ken Shelley, who heard about the event while in town from North Carolina.
“Those families have lost children, so all the money you throw at them, that’s wonderful, but it’s not going to bring that child back. But I’m so grateful that we have a way of helping them somehow,” said Anna Baumgartner of Silver Spring.
