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On His Birthday, Fred Guttenberg Asks People To Grant 'A Father's Wish'

PARKLAND (CBSMiami) – Tuesday was a bittersweet birthday for Fred Guttenberg.

"Today is my second birthday without my daughter," he said. "I started my birthday today at a cemetery."

Life for Guttenberg, who turned 54 on Tuesday, will never be the same after his daughter, Jaime, was murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018.

"I don't get to have a regular birthday ever again," he told CBS4's Carey Codd. "Everything I do now is about how I honor my daughter going forward."

This week, Guttenberg created a GoFundMe effort called "A Father's Wish" to honor his daughter by raising money to support Orange Ribbons for Jaime — the foundation he created in 2018 after Jaime was murdered in Parkland.

The foundation raises money for college scholarships for kids who plan to either pursue dance, serve others or have special needs. Those are passions that Jaime explored during her life — dancing and volunteering with animals and children with special needs. Guttenberg said Jaime aspired to be a pediatric physical therapist.

"I don't ever get to see my child graduate or go to college but Jaime's gonna help other kids be able to go to college and that's the importance of what we do," Guttenberg said.

Through the "A Father's Wish" effort, Fred is also asking people to consider purchasing tickets to a February comedy show fundraiser at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale to benefit Orange Ribbons. Three nationally known comedians will perform — Alonzo Bodden, Jim Breuer and Jessica Kirson.

"It will be right after the two-year mark when everything happened," he said. "It will be a night where our community needs laughter."

Unfortunately, Fred's story of pain and loss extends beyond Parkland. His brother Michael was a New York emergency services doctor who worked for 16 days at ground zero treating patients after 9/11. He was there when the buildings fell, Guttenberg said, and in 2013 Michael got cancer related to his work during that time. Michael died just months before Jaime was murdered.

"For our family it seemed like the worst possible thing a family could go through, watching this process go on. Until my daughter was killed," Guttenberg said.

Guttenberg said he will be telling the stories of Michael and Jaime as well as inspiration he received through conversations with national leaders including former Vice President Joe Biden and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich in a book he hopes to have published sometime in 2020.

"It's what the rabbi said at Jaime's funeral that resonates with me every single day — you don't move on. You move forward. And the book tells the story of how I went forward," he explained.

Through it all, Fred Guttenberg considers himself an optimist. Most of all he says his work these past two years on gun safety and Orange Ribbons for Jaime has shown him the good in the world.

"After what we went through it would be easy to lose faith in people but after what we went through, my faith in people is actually stronger than ever because people keep stepping up and showing up and doing amazing things," he said.

If you want to donate to Guttenberg's "A Father's Wish" effort or by purchase tickets to the comedy show fundraiser in February, go to the GoFundMe page or OrangeRibbonsForJaime.org.

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