A 215 second moment of silence was held Monday at Holy Angels’ Parish, minutes before roughly 250 residents made their way down Talbot Street for the first ever Every Child Matters March in St. Thomas.
A sea of orange took over the grounds at Holy Angels’ on National Indigenous Peoples Day, the meeting spot for the March that would make its way to the St. Thomas Anglican Church.
Brought along were tokens of remembrance that were laid on the steps of the churches to honour the 215 children found in unrecorded graves at the residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia, all others found across Canada, the children still missing, as well as residential school survivors.
March organizer Betty Budden says when tears were not enough to grieve the loss of all these innocent indigenous children, she knew she had to do more.
Hearing that other communities across the country were turning their memorials into marches, gave Budden the idea to take it a step further.
She says that she was overwhelmed by the show of support.
Budden says our jobs now is to continue to educate those on the dark history that our country holds.
She adds that the hope is to continue holding the Every Child Matters March annually.
