Tribute in memory of London attack victim goes viral globally
One year after Christine (Chrissy) Archibald was killed during a terrorist attack in London, the Calgary social worker’s legacy lives on all over the world through random acts of kindness and charity.
Days after Archibald’s death in 2017, posts tagged #ChrissySentMe started to appear on social media, showing people going out of their way to help those in need.
The campaign was started by her family, asking others to remember Archibald by making their communities a better place to live.
“Volunteer your time and labour or donate to a homeless shelter,” the statement read. “Tell them Chrissy sent you.”
Kathy Christiansen, executive director of Calgary Alpha House Society where Archibald used to work, said the 30-year-old was “off on a new adventure” when she moved to Europe with her fiancé, Tyler Ferguson.
“She would never have certainly imagined (the campaign),” Christiansen said. “You know, she was a humble person and she would have seen this as something greater than her.”
Christiansen said she’s been contacted by people as far away as Australia wanting to honour Archibald’s memory through community service.
Archibald and Ferguson were in London on June 3, 2017, taking in the sights on the city ’s iconic London Bridge when a van mounted the curb and plowed into pedestrians. Eight people were killed, including Archibald, and 48 others were injured in the attack.
Since then, the #ChrissySentMe campaign has gone viral. There are hundreds of posts on Twitter showcasing people around the world reaching out to help strangers or donating time and goods to the less fortunate.
Even Janice Charette, Canada’s high commissioner to the U.K., got in on the movement at a United Way fundraiser in November.
Archibald, a B.C. native, attended the social work program at Mount Royal University before doing her practicum at the Alpha House Society, which assists at-risk Calgarians with drug and alcohol addiction. She was later hired as a staff member before leaving the country.
“She had a heart for the work,” Christiansen said. “We had a little going away party for her … it was very touching and a little bit emotional when she was leaving.”
On top of the campaign, a GoFundMe page was started in Archibald’s honour, collecting nearly $30,000 for Alpha House and the United Way.
Employees at Alpha House have been active on social media promoting the movement in honour of their late friend and co-worker.
Christiansen said Archibald would be humbled by the response to the tragedy, which pushed people to be better to each other instead of inspiring “hate and hurt.”
“I think that there’s a consistency around the need to rise up and take the higher ground,” she said. “Globally, we needed that.”