The following excerpt is from an article that was published in the News & Observer on June 28, 2025.

The last job Gabi Angelini applied for before starting her own business was to be a smoothie operator. Her mother, Mary, guesses she applied for 20 jobs. She often got interviews. She got rejected each time. TOP VIDEOS And after this interview, the employer said Gabi, who has Down syndrome, would be too slow for the job. “How do they know if they never taught me?” Gabi said. “Do you know how to make a smoothie?” Mary asked. “Of course,” Gabi replied.

So Gabi took matters into her own hands and co-founded Gabi’s Grounds with Mary in 2017. In 2020 they pivoted to Gabi’s PALS (Packaging, Assembling, Labeling and Shipping), packaging anything from shirts to coffees, from Castile soap and candles to CBD oil gummies. Now, Gabi’s PALS is trying to raise $200,000 to either expand its co-warehouse on Pylon Drive in Raleigh or move to a new one.

They’ve started a GoFundMe to raise $20,000 for walking forklifts, pallet jacks, racking, desks and chairs.

Read the full article here.