BC Place will glow Purple and Blue 8

I am very excited right now and very glad to announce that BC Place will recognize Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day on October 15 by lighting up the roof in the colors of purple and blue. Here is part of the email I received today in response to our special lighting request:

“Thank you for reconnecting with us regarding your special lighting request. I am pleased to confirm that BC Place is scheduled to glow Blue & Purple on the morning and evening of October 15, in support of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

Hours of the lighting will be approximately 6am to sunrise in the morning, and sunset to 11pm in the evening.

If you have any questions, please do let me know. Best wishes for your awareness-generating efforts next Tuesday.”

My wife and I are very grateful for this act of support and the opportunities it provides to raise awareness for a topic that is so dear to our hearts. Thank you BC Place for your support of families who have had to endure the death of a child!

How did this all come about?
On September 16th I read a note on Facebook in a group for bereaved parents talking about all the activities that are planned to raise awareness during the month of October. Someone mentioned that various groups had successfully applied to have landmarks light up in the colors of pink/purple and blue, for example the CN Tower in Toronto and Niagara Falls. Kerstin and I immediately thought we should have something similar in Vancouver. I posted the idea on Facebook to ask which landmark does lighting and supports good causes here and within minutes we had suggestions for BC Place, the Olympic Cauldron and Grouse Mountain. It turned out that the Olympic Cauldron would be a major undertaking that requires deep pockets and probably could not even do special colors. Grouse Mountain equally does not seem to support special requests or colors. But BC Place regularly supports important causes (such as blue and yellow for Ride to Conquer Cancer, gold for Childhood Cancer Awareness, pink for breastcancer awareness) and they have the details to make requests outlined on their website. However, they require 30 days notice so we got going on it right away and submitted a request the same day. And here we are today with the good news that it was approved. Now we have to start planning to make good use of this opportunity. Lot’s to do…

Update 1 (October 8): More good news arrived today. I just saw a post on the Facebook page of our friends Little Spirits Garden in Victoria who got October 15 officially recognized in British Columbia in 2013. Thank you!

We are currently planning a candlelight vigil on the evening of October 15 for bereaved families and their friends. We will light candles at 7pm as part of the International Wave of Light and watch the BC Place lighting of the roof. Details about the event have been posted to Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/483731001734812/.

Update 2 (October 14): The Vancouver Sun published a story about Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness day!

Update 3 (October 15): I got up early today to take a few pictures of the morning lighting.

Update 4 (October 16): I added some more images from the evening at BC Place and the candlelight vigil.

Update 5 (October 31): BC Place kindly shared some of their images from the event with us.

Thank you for all your support!