The City of Lacombe is celebrating kindness and anti-bullying with Pink Shirt Day tomorrow, (Feb. 28).  

Throughout February, the Lacombe and District Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) in collaboration with the BGC of Lacombe have worked to spread advocacy for youth programming and celebrate anti-bullying day through the community-wide Kindness Campaign.   

Crystal Zens, Executive Director of the Lacombe FCSS explained that pink shirts were designed by local students and sold in support of the BGC agency.   

“We took a bunch of shirts and sold them to businesses, schools, and organizations,” Zens said. “Those shirts, this year, flew out the door. It’s really expanded not just to the schools but across our community.”  

Beth Reitz, Executive Director of BGC Wolf Creek, explained that Pink Shirt Day ties in with what the BGC stands for, which is promoting acting kindly and respectfully.  

“It's something that we teach kids year-round, but this is a time stamp on it for us in February where we can really focus our attention on it,” she said.   

Throughout the month, BGC brought awareness to how students can support their friends and peers by hosting kindness-based activities. 

This year, the FCSS had a record-breaking 78 businesses and organizations promote the Kindness Campaign, by featuring kindness quotes, selling pink products, or participating in team challenges to promote kindness in the community.   

The Lacombe FCSS was inspired to launch the Kindness Campaign at the end of the pandemic.   

“It just felt like our community needed some extra sparkle and rejuvenation,” Zens said. “After we were out of isolation, it was just a really good reminder that we are better together.”  

Since then, the Kindness Campaign has taken off in popularity, with surrounding communities promoting positivity by hosting their own campaigns.   

“It was exciting to see all of the communities around us hosting their own kindness campaigns, which is pretty extraordinary,” Zens said.   

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