In celebration of Pink Shirt Day next week, Richmond residents, schools, organizations and the community are all encouraged to wear any shade of pink to promote kindness and anti-bullying.
Pink Shirt Day is celebrated on Feb. 22 this year and is a dedicated day to remind the community that Richmond is a city that "accepts all people for who they are," said Mayor Malcolm Brodie.
“On Pink Shirt Day, we wear pink to support kindness and the idea that everyone in the Richmond community deserves to feel welcomed, supported and safe," he said.
Multiple Pink Shirt Day activities and decorations planned on and around Feb. 22 are as follows:
- A Pink Shirt Day toonie youth skate at Minoru Arenas.
- “Take a selfie with kind words about yourself” at Cambie Community Centre.
- Window and lobby displays at community centres with messages about kindness.
- Themed decorations and displays at Richmond Public Library, including specially chosen books about kindness, as well as a Pink Shirt Day storytime.
- Youth-organized craft activities for children at Steveston Community Centre.
- Richmond Fire-Rescue duty crews will wear pink epaulettes on their uniform.
- School District No. 38 will continue to have conversations in the classroom about anti-bullying
To promote Pink Shirt Day, the Richmond Youth Media Program (RYMP) also held a contest where participants were invited to create and submit a Pink Shirt Day t-shirt design.
This year's winning design was by MacNeill secondary student Botao Chen, who has been with RYMP since 2018.
The t-shirt designs will be printed and worn by the City of Richmond and Association staff.
When did Pink Shirt Day start
In 2007, on his first day of Grade 12, Travis Price learned that a Grade 9 student had been bullied for wearing a pink shirt.
He and his friend David Shepherd convinced hundreds of their fellow students to wear pink clothes to school the next day, creating an annual campaign now known as Pink Shirt Day and sparking an international anti-bullying movement.
For more information about the city's Pink Shirt Day 2023 events, click here.
-with files from Alan Campbell
