#Chrissysentyou. That hashtag is resonating across Canada and the world tonight in memory of the young Canadian woman who died in the terrorism attack on London. Her family's message was to honor their daughter by donating or helping at a homeless shelter, where Christine Archibald had worked.
It's becoming one of the fastest trending hashtags: #tell them Chrissy sent you. And the impact is being felt in homeless shelters across the country and here in Ottawa, too, with calls of money and offers of help, all in the name of Christine Archibald.
Within minutes of hearing the message from Christine Archibald's family, Ottawa real estate agent Sean Downey was on-line, making a donation to the Ottawa Mission.
“If I can provide any small comfort to her family,” Downey says, “that in her loss, that something good is happening, it's the least I can do.”
Something good out of something tragic. 30–year-old Christine Archibald was walking on the London Bridge with her fiancé when she was hit by a speeding van that ploughed into a group of people. She died in his arms. Archibald had moved from Calgary to Europe to start a new life. She had worked at a homeless shelter in Calgary, helping people like Greg Warden with addictions.
“I’m devastated by this,” he said, “She didn't deserve that."
Her family says that Chrissy had room in her heart for everyone and believed all people had a right to be valued and respected.
“Please honor her by making your community a better place,” family spokesperson Patrick Audet read in a statement from the family, which also requested that people consider donating money or their time to a homeless shelter and just say “Chrissy sent them.”
And people are responding, at the Ottawa Mission, for instance.
“I just received a phone call about half an hour ago,” says Peter Tilley, the executive director of the Ottawa Mission, “To encourage other people to donate to shelter and remember her that way, it’s making the best of a terrible situation.”
At Shepherds of Good Hope, they are getting donations from people who have never given before.
“It's a huge tragedy she's no longer here,” said Caroline Cox, the senior manager for transitional shelter services for Shepherds of Good Hope, “but the fact her friends and family have been able to spin this into something positive for vulnerable people in the community is really inspiring.”
And it is inspiring people across the country and around the world.
“I've just donated to a shelter in memory of Chrissy sent you,” tweeted Sophie Maggs.
“Bless Canadians for being a beacon of light in the darkness,” added DG.
Back at the Ottawa Mission, Lloyd Richards continues to dish out soup to the homeless, something he has been doing three times a week for seven years, inspired even more by the message Christine Archibald’s family has delivered.
“The beauty of that girl,” Richards said, “Plus the fact her family's humanity offsets the inhumanity of those criminals.”Archibald's family says her loss will change their lives forever. They are hoping her memory can change lives, too.