The Walkerton District Community School Tragedy - Families

We are deeply saddened to share that four secondary students and one staff member from Walkerton District Community School (WDCS) passed away tragically on Friday afternoon in a motor vehicle collision while returning from a sporting event near London.

This is a devastating loss for 5 families within our community as well as the entire WDCS student body and staff and the local community as a whole.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families directly impacted, as they deal with unimaginable grief and sadness through this sudden and heartbreaking loss.

Nobody plans for this type of tragedy in their lives. The impact is horrific!! However the costs involved in the upcoming funerals and expenses are more than these families have planned for.

We are asking for your support to assist in the un-forseen costs that will cause even more burden on these families.

We encourage our community to once again come together in love and support to help in this tragic time.

My name is Kerry Withrow. I am a retired teacher from the Bluewater District School Board. As a teacher, I know how devastating this accident is to the families involved, the entire school and board family and our community as a whole. I wanted to set up this project to help the families directly involved in this accident, to be able to handle the financial burdens which will be coming their way and which were definitely not planned for.

We are raising these funds for the families of the following victims:

Teacher: Matt Eckert

Student: Olivia Rourke

Student: Danica Baker

Student: Rowan McLeod

Student: Kaydance Ford

Following the completion of this Fund Raising program we will distribute the funds evenly to a custodial parent of each of the families involved. Funds will be delivered via bank draft to the designated family member.

The funds will be available for the families to pay funeral expenses and any additional costs, expected or unexpected, involved in the funeral and burial of their loved ones. Any additional funds beyond the funeral costs, if any, may be used by the designated family member at their discretion and according to their personal and family needs.