A memorial service will be held Nov. 17 in Port Coquitlam for bullied teen Amanda Todd.
She took her own life last week, a month after posting a video to Youtube detailing the harassment she suffered from an online predator and school bullies, which led to drug and alcohol abuse, as well as self harm.
The video has gone viral in the since her death, having been viewed close to 20 million times.
Todd attended school at Maple Ridge and Westview secondary schools in Maple Ridge before moving to Port Coquitlam last year.
She would have celebrated her 16th birthday next month.
The memorial service will be held in Port Coquitlam on Saturday, Nov. 17. However, details of the event have yet to be determined, says Amanda Todd’s mother, Carol Todd.
“I booked it [at Citadel Middle School] tentatively, but I’m not sure if the venue is going to be big enough,” she said.
Carol Todd is hoping Amanda’s friends and family will attend, but is asking the greater public who have identified with her daughter’s story, but didn’t know Amanda personally, not to come.
“We want to keep away the lookie loos,” she said. “We’re not selling tickets to this.”
Vigils were held around the world on Friday to remember Amanda Todd and other victims of bullying, with many of the events organized and attended by high school students.
Hundreds gathered in Surrey’s Holland Park for a candlelight vigil, organized by Global Girl Power, a newly formed Surrey organization “committed to empower, educate, support, protect, and respect women and girls around the world because every girl has the power to change this world.”
In Coquitlam, where Todd last attended school, hundreds showed up for a service at Lafarge Lake Park. That event was organized by Shawna Iverson, whose daughter was in Todd’s dance class years ago.
Similar events were held across Canada, as well as the United States.
High school students from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows held an informal memorial for Todd at Maple Ridge’s Memorial Peace Park on Monday, Oct. 15.
More than 80 people attended, bringing with them bouquets of flowers and lit candles to place in the centre of the rotunda in her memory.
A trust fund has been established by Todd’s family to support youth mental health, cyber-bullying education and a scholarship fund for students with learning disabilities (with a focus on singing and or/technology).
In an introduction to the online giving program, donors are encouraged to choose a program to support and told that Amanda would want to help other young people dealing with bullying.
Donations can also be made to any RBC Canada under the name of Amanda Michelle Todd Trust Fund.
– with files
