LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It was one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history – the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Now, a Louisville organization is leading the way so those who lost their lives are never forgotten.
Pulse Nightclub owner Barbara Poma made a stop in Louisville Saturday – the first of several around the country part of a fundraising campaign for the Pulse Memorial and Museum.
That global campaign, part of the One Pulse Foundation, is lead by Louisville based JP Davis Partners and is called Out Love Hate.
“We are going to do everything we can to remember the lives lost and the survivors that have to live with this every single day,” J.P. Davis, founder of JP Davis Partners, said.
Poma met Davis several years ago. Before the Pulse Campaign, Davis was the Senior Vice President of Kentucky’s Fund for the Arts.
Rendering for Pulse Memorial and Museum.
“The opportunity comes up for us to bring him onto the team and so we asked him and was excited and enthusiastic about joining us and we were really happy to have him,” said Poma.
Forty-nine people were killed and more than were wounded inside the LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando on June 12th, 2016 following the mass shooting.
On the fifth anniversary of the Pulse massacre, President Joe Biden declared the site will be a national memorial and museum to honor those lost.
“I cried, I personally was crying because I felt what an honor it was and what a gift to not only the LGBTQ community but to everyone affected at the Pulse nightclub,” said Poma.
Sixty-eight design teams from 18 countries competed for what the museum will look like. A jury of survivors, their families, the Orlando community and first responders decided on the final design.
The actual site of the shooting will be a sanctuary of hope and healing – it will have reflecting pools and 49 trees, one representing each victim.
The museum will feature a white spiral tower that will include walkways, educational areas and photos of those lost.
“It's going to be a beautiful, first-class project and it will be celebrated from all over the world,” said Davis.
Rendering for Pulse Memorial and Museum.
Donors will have their photos permanently displayed in the museum.
While the COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on many nonprofit organizations, the One Pulse foundation is hoping to raise funds for the next year and a half. The entire project will take about two years to build.
After Louisville, Poma and her team will be making stops in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
“I just wanted to give everyone the chance to really be a part of it," Poma said. "In 50 years their children and grandchildren can come back and say 'look, my mother, my grandmother, my cousin, my aunt believed in this and was a part of this."
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