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Organization holding 2nd annual candlelighting, part of global event

Compassionate Friends' event honours children who have died
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The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candlelighting — the largest candlelighting event in the world — honours the memory of children who have died

An international organization is creating a worldwide wave of light on Sunday, Dec. 9, in memory of children who have died, of any age and of any cause.

The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candlelighting takes place at 7 p.m., and the Cranbrook chapter of Compassionate Friends is taking part. This will be the Cranbrook Chapter's second year of participation. It is the 16th year for the candlelighting worldwide.

The Compassionate Friends is an international, volunteer, self-help organization offering friendship, understanding, a place to grieve and a place to find hope and help from those who have walked the path of bereavement before.

The Worldwide Candle Lighting is believed to be the largest mass candlelighting on the globe. It creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died, but will never be forgotten.

The event honours their memory in a way that transcends ethnic, cultural, religious and political boundaries.

In Cranbrook, the Compassionate Friends Candlelighting takes place at Rotary Park, Sunday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. The vigil is for parents, grandparents, siblings, family, friends and general public. Participants are asked to gather at 6:30 p.m., and to dress warmly.

If you wish to attend, and want to light a candle for your child, grandchild or sibling, please call Laura at 250-489-1000 to give us the name of your child. If you wish to bring a small photo in a standup frame of your loved one, please do.



Barry Coulter

About the Author: Barry Coulter

Barry Coulter had been Editor of the Cranbrook Townsman since 1998, and has been part of all those dynamic changes the newspaper industry has gone through over the past 20 years.
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