Family, friends and loved ones of Julianna Kozis gathered Sunday for the launch of a foundation that will support grieving families in honour of the 10-year-old who was killed during a shooting in Toronto’s Greektown last year.
At a park in their hometown of Markham, a spokesman for the family said the Just Do Kindness Foundation will support the Dr. Jay Children’s Grief Centre to commemorate Kozis, who died along with Reese Fallon in the July 2018 shooting that also injured 13 and left the 29-year-old gunman dead.
“To see all that Julianna and Reese had to offer this world, although that has been taken away from all of us, what was not is their kind spirit and nature that will carry on. That kind nature also lives in all of us,” he said.
READ MORE: Dozens gather at sunset vigil to remember Danforth shooting victims
“This day is not just about the launch of the foundation. It’s about how our community has come together to remember Julianna and honour her in a loving and peaceful way.”
The grief centre provides support to hundreds of children, youth and families facing grief, terminal illness and traumatic loss.
On the Just Do Kindness fundraising page, Kozis’ family said they created the foundation to honour the memory of Julianna and the kindness she embodied in life.
With two weeks left to fundraise, the foundation had raised more than $33,000 by Sunday afternoon – almost $10,000 more than their fundraising goal. The family’s spokesman said the extra money will be used to fund Camp Kindness “for the following years and years to come.”
Markham’s mayor, Frank Scarpitti, attended the event after earlier planting a tree in honour of Kozis’ memory.
“A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam, and for a brief moment its glory and beauty belong to our world,” Scarpitti said of Kozis. “Then it flies on again, and although we wish it could’ve stopped, we are so thankful to have seen it at all.”
The announcement of the foundation comes less than one week after the anniversary of the Danforth shooting, which saw community members gather to commemorate the victims.
A vigil was held Monday at sunset and was led by Toronto Paramedic Services’ Rev. Walter Kelly.