Local Online Boutique Takes ‘Stand With Parkland’ Cause to Heart

By Sharon Aron Baron

An online boutique featuring creative gifts and accessories telling stories through pictures and words has partnered with Stand With Parkland to help fundraise and focus attention on the victims in the wake of the third commemoration of the massacre.

Artful Duck owner and Parkland resident, Bonnie Hirschel, chose to partner with Stand With Parkland after realizing that COVID-19 was limiting or canceling public gatherings, social events, and annual fundraisers this year.

Having previously created custom art collages that have been donated and auctioned off at local fundraisers, Bonnie designed an “In Our Hearts Forever” design featuring the names of all 17 people lost on that tragic day.

Made up of the victim’s families, Stand with Parkland’s mission is to represent all families’ interests while working with lawmakers in both political parties to develop and enact laws addressing the many facets leading to violence in schools.

“When the first anniversary came around, we were all still in shock,” said Hirschel. “By the second, I think people were starting to breathe again, but now I am starting to feel like the victims are becoming a distant memory, and that doesn’t sit well with me, so I wanted to make sure we put the focus back where it belongs. And it belongs on them, the 17 people, their names, their lives, their memory.”

The “In Our Hearts Forever” design is available on a limited edition T-Shirt or bag, and 20 percent of all purchases support Stand With Parkland. artfulduck.com/shop   

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