Pasta Rose Scholarship Fund

For Allison Arevalo, the Pasta Rose Scholarship fund began before her famed Park Slope restaurant, Pasta Louise, even opened.

“It was one of the very first initiatives, even before Pasta Louise opened,” Allison shared. “This was something that I knew was important to me, that I wanted to do.”

The scholarship honors Allison’s sister, Lenore Jack, who died of bladder cancer in 2018. Lenore left behind two daughters, Jasmine Rose and Scarlet Rose, whose names inspired the Pasta Rose Scholarship fund. Through the fund, Allison awards scholarships to Brooklyn high school students who have lost a parent to cancer.

Before Lenore became sick, she worked as a lawyer for the Administration for Children’s Services in Queens, where she spent years serving children and families. For Allison, any effort to honor her sister had to reflect that deep commitment.

“When I was thinking of a way to honor her, I knew it had to do with children, because that was something that was so important to her,” Allison said.

The students who apply to the Pasta Rose Scholarship have each experienced profound loss; some lost a parent when they were very young, and others are still grieving a loss that may have happened only months before applying. Reading their stories each year has become one of the most meaningful parts of Allison’s life. But when Allison first imagined the scholarship, she was still figuring out how to make it possible.

“I had no idea what I was doing when I first thought of this,” Allison shared. “I’m like, oh, a scholarship, this is going to be great. And then I was thinking logistically, wait a minute, I can’t just take the money from the restaurant, because we’re a for-profit business.”

A mentor encouraged Allison to look for a community foundation in her neighborhood. That search led her to Brooklyn Org, where she found the guidance and structure to turn a personal idea into a lasting fund.

“[The team at Brooklyn Org] was so helpful in letting me know how to set it up, and figure out how it’s going to be granted,” Allison said.

With a Donor Advised Fund at Brooklyn Org, Allison was able to create a structure for the Pasta Rose Scholarship, understand how money could be distributed, and build a process that worked for students, schools, and her family’s vision. Today, the fund is supported through online donations and special events, giving Pasta Louise’s broader community a way to be part of the scholarship too.

“It was way easier than I thought it was going to be,” she mentioned.

As the scholarship has grown, Brooklyn Org has continued to support Allison in navigating the practical questions that come with giving. Instead of having to figure out the structure, distribution, and compliance pieces on her own, Allison has a partner who can keep the process moving and make sure the fund continues to serve students the way she intended.

“It feels like having a partner in the scholarship. Whenever any issues come up, I get responses right away,” Allison said. “I had someone to bounce ideas off of, and I didn’t feel alone.”

That support gives Allison more room to focus on the students themselves. While the applicants’ stories are heartbreaking, what moves her most is how many young people have turned their own grief toward helping others.

One past recipient started a prom dress drive for classmates who could not afford dresses and created a motivation wall in the girls’ bathroom at her school where students could leave notes of encouragement. Another started a grief group after realizing how many students might be feeling the same loneliness he had felt.

“We look for ways that the student has made a difference,” Allison said. “Have they taken this terrible thing that was handed to them and still been able to find something positive, and still been able to reach out to people in their community?”

The selection process has become its own kind of community effort. Allison puts together a packet of completed applications for a small committee that includes restaurant managers, teachers, family members, and people whose own lives have been shaped by cancer and loss. Her oldest niece, now 20, is part of the committee too. Together, they read the students’ stories and make what Allison describes as one of the hardest decisions of her year.

“The students who have gone through this, when we read these applications, it’s just incredible,” she said. “They have accomplished so much considering the loss that they’ve gone through.”

Allison sees that same generosity in Lenore’s life. While many of Lenore’s law school classmates went on to corporate jobs, Lenore stayed in public service at ACS. She remembers her sister as someone who made people feel seen. At Lenore’s funeral, coworkers came up to Allison one after another, sharing small reminders of her generosity: a scarf she had bought, a necklace she had given, a moment of kindness they had carried with them.

“She had a way of really capturing people’s attention,” Allison said. “She was so good at asking people questions and really getting to know them. She made everyone feel so special when you were in the room with her.”

For Allison, Brooklyn is the right home for this work. She and her husband lived in Carroll Gardens before moving to Oakland, California, and then returned to New York in 2018. Now her kids are growing up here, and her restaurants—Pasta Louise and Bar Louise—are woven into the fabric of Park Slope.

“Especially having a business here, I know all the neighbors. I know their dogs’ names. I know their kids’ names. I’ve watched their kids grow up,” says Allison.

When asked to describe Brooklyn in one word, Allison chose “community.” Through the Pasta Rose Scholarship, Allison is carrying Lenore’s legacy forward in that same spirit. The fund honors students not only for what they have survived, but for the ways they continue to show up for their communities.

With Brooklyn Org, she has found a way to keep that giving rooted in Brooklyn and supported for the long term.