Stand with Raven Pizza After the Storm

Help Raven Pizza Rebuild After Hurricane Milton

• Our Story & Legacy: My name is Riccardo Ossola, and I’ve had the honor of running Raven Pizza – Parrish’s first pizzeria – for the last year. Since opening its doors in 1995, our little restaurant became a home away from home for the community. Generations of friends and families have shared countless slices, celebrations, and memories around our ovens. Raven Pizza isn’t just a restaurant; it’s a piece of local history and a beloved gathering spot for our neighbors.

• Devastated by Hurricane Milton: Last October, Hurricane Milton tore the roof off our building and forced us to close for more than 13 weeks. The devastation was overwhelming – our kitchen was ruined, equipment destroyed, and with the long shutdown, our savings were drained while bills piled up. We tried our best to rebuild and reopened as soon as we could, but the financial hit was severe. Many of you lived through that same storm and know how suddenly life can be turned upside down. Raven Pizza was not spared, and for the first time in three decades, our ovens went cold.

• Our Dedicated Team: Through all these hardships, our incredible staff – Marcos, Ingrid, Claire, Casper, Valerie, Gabriel, Finley, Mike, Robert, Georgia, and Sasha – never gave up on us or our community. Even when paychecks were delayed and the future was uncertain, they kept showing up with smiles on their faces, determined to serve you the best pizza in town. These people are the heart and soul of Raven Pizza. They have families to support and bills to pay, yet they stood by us through every challenge. Their dedication is inspiring, and we are committed to taking care of them just as they’ve taken care of our customers.

• Why We’re Asking for Help: We’ve exhausted every option to overcome these challenges on our own, but we can’t do this alone. A small emergency loan covered only a fraction of the hurricane damage. We are still behind on payments, and mounting repair costs and debt have put us in a tough spot. To keep Raven Pizza alive, we need to relocate to a new location (our old building is beyond repair) and make sure our loyal employees receive the proper financial support for what they have done for us and the community. This GoFundMe is our lifeline - we aim to catch up on settle debts from the disaster, and secure a new home where we can rebuild and reopen our pizzeria for the community.

• Your Impact – Every Dollar Counts: When you donate, you’re not just helping a business; you’re helping a family and a community. Every contribution will go directly toward supporting our staff and rebuilding Raven Pizza. For example, $25 can cover about one hour of wages for one of our employees – that’s an hour they can provide for their family. Larger donations will help us replace our destroyed kitchen equipment and build out a new storefront so we can start cooking for you again. No amount is too small – whether it’s $5 or $500, every dollar brings us one step closer to reopening and keeps hope alive for our team.

• A Community Effort: Raven Pizza has always been about community. Many of you have celebrated birthdays, sports victories, school graduations, and ordinary family nights out in our dining room. We’ve been honored to serve this town for so long, and now we’re humbly turning to the community that we love for help. If you’ve ever enjoyed a crispy slice at Raven Pizza, if we’ve ever made your day a little brighter with a warm meal, or even if you just believe in helping a neighbor, please consider donating and sharing our story. We know times are tough for many in Parrish after the hurricane, but together we can preserve a small but important part of what makes our community special. Together, we can bring back the delicious piece of Parrish history that is Raven Pizza.

• From Our Hearts, Thank You: It truly breaks my heart to be in this position, writing this plea for help. Raven Pizza has been my life’s work and a labor of love for three decades, and I’m determined not to let this be the end. Your support means the world to us – it gives our team hope that Raven Pizza’s story isn’t over. From the bottom of my heart (and on behalf of everyone at Raven Pizza), thank you for reading our story and for caring. We are forever grateful for any help you can give, whether it’s a donation or simply sharing this campaign with others. With your help, I believe we can fire up our ovens again and continue serving you, our Parrish family, for years to come. Thank you for being part of the Raven Pizza family.