The Lighthouse for Grieving Children

During the month of November, take a moment to appreciate the art installation outside The Lighthouse for Grieving Children, at the corner of Bronte and Rebecca in Oakville.

Kaleidoscope is the name of the display, which features 500 blue butterflies, in recognition of Children’s Grief Awareness Month. November 15 is known internationally as Children's Grief Awareness Day, and the blue butterfly represents hope and is used around the world to raise awareness for grieving children and youth. Across Canada, one child in 50 is bereaved.  In Halton, Peel and Toronto, this means that approximately one child in every two classrooms experiences the death of a close family member every year.

Kaleidoscope seeks to ignite conversation around children's grief. At Lighthouse, we believe that if we can inspire #oneconversation about children's grief, we can create a community of compassion for grieving children and families in our communities. The butterfly installation has been a true grassroots project, and has engaged children, teens and adults over the past 3 months.  Each unique butterfly has been handcrafted and each is dedicated to the memory of a loved one by Lighthouse families and supporters.

On November 15th, the Town of Oakville will illuminate the Town Hall in blue to recognize this day and bring light to the fact that numerous children in our local communities, clubs, sports teams and schools have been affected by a close family member’s death.  Families like Rob with his two children, Nick and Ashley. "The thought, content and activities put together at Lighthouse along with the dedicated space and time have been instrumental in assisting our family through an extremely difficult loss” said Rob. “Had it not been for Lighthouse, our family would be an unresolved, unimaginable mess."

No one can take away a child's grief or bring back the person who has died, but by creating a community of caring and compassion, we can show grieving children and their families that they are not alone.   Grief needs time, space and understanding, and Lighthouse provides just that.

If you would like to ignite #oneconversation, volunteer or support Lighthouse, please attend their Open House and Breakfast on Thursday November 15 from 8-9am. RSVP to info@grievingchildrenlighthouse.org. For more information on Lighthouse, visit  www.grievingchildrenlighthouse.org.