Family’s food drive honours daughter killed in head-on collision
For the Stride family, Aug. 27, 2017, was a day that changed them forever.
“Our family will never be the same,” said Glenda Stride, whose 18-year-old daughter, Sarah, was killed last year in a head-on collision on the Trans-canada Highway near Chapel Arm.
“Every day is hard,” she said. “The pain in our heart is unimaginable, but we always try to see the good in each day. We miss her terribly. She laughed loud and loved endlessly.”
Stride was travelling on the TCH when she was hit and killed by an SUV that was heading east when it crossed the centre line into the westbound lane.
The driver of the SUV, Michael Ernest Ryan, 41, and Paula Marie Ryan (Vivian), 34, and their 11-year-old son, Michael Anthony Wallace Ryan,
were also killed in the collision.
To mark the anniversary of
her death, family and friends of the young girl who called the Burin Peninsula home held a food drive in her memory last weekend.
A collage of photos of Sarah was on the table during the food drive.
During the event, held outside of Walmart in Marystown, items were collected for both the Salvation Army Food Bank and the Burin Peninsula SPCA.
“My daughter used to do food drives and clothing drives for the less-fortunate in British Columbia, where we were stationed first (with the RCMP),” Stride said.
“We’re with the Salvation Army, so she was confirmed Salvation Army, so that’s why we usually lean towards (them) when it comes to giving.”
She added her daughter was an animal lover, so when it came to giving to the SPCA the choice was easy to make.
“It was a part of who she was … she always brought home strays.”
Stride said she and her family knew how special Sarah was, “but it wasn’t until she passed that we found out how many people’s lives she touched.”
“We are so proud to be her parents, and her brother Geoff misses her every day.”
The family received an outpouring of support from the public during the two-day event.
“I can’t even get over it,” Stride said.
“We had a half-ton truck full of food for the SPCA given yesterday, we had probably close to seven or eight cartloads of food … so they had to make three trips for the food for the Salvation Army,” she said.
Glenda said going into the event she didn’t have any expectations.
“I was thoroughly surprised, and overwhelmed by the love and the (sense of) giving that this community has.”