Schools across the District 69 are taking part in Pink Shirt Day tomorrow (Feb. 23) in recognition of national anti-bullying day.
Vancouver Island Insurance Centres are donating nearly 2,000 shirts to all the local elementary schools and the high schools that have led the local effort will continue to do so.
Schools across the district will hold assemblies and events in recognition of tolerance.
The day started in 2007 when two Nova Scotia high school students supported a younger student after he was bullied for wearing pink on the first day of school.
The Grade 12 students bought 50 pink shirts and encouraged everyone to wear pink. Hundreds of students showed up in pink the next day and less than a year later people across the country were wearing pink in the name of tolerance.
The province of B.C. declared Anti-Bullying Day to support the efforts last year to encourage people to wear pink.
The government now distributes resources to all schools in the province to help families better understand their shared role in bullying prevention. A resource brochure and Internet safety tips are published in 14 languages and can be found at www.bced.gov.bc.ca/sco/.
Qualicum Beach Insurance Centre manager Martine Frew said they like to get involved in the community and this was a project they were happy to get behind.
As of Monday morning they still had free shirts available at their Parksville and Qualicum Beach branches for children not in school or adults who support the initiative.
Read more at www.pinkshirtday.ca.