Friends, family remember mom killed in bike-truck crash

Hundreds were greeted by whirling dervishes and singers chanting “Jenna, we love you”.

They gathered at the Great Hall at 1087 Queen St. W. on Dec. 15 to celebrate the life of Jenna Morrison and to raise funds for Lucas, her five-year-old son.

The 38-year-old mom and yoga teacher was killed after colliding with a truck while riding her bicycle on Nov. 7. She was on her way to pick up her son from kindergarten.

“She was a dancer and a mover,” said Angela Murdoch, an organizer of In Celebration of Jenna honouring her close friend. “Her whole life was moving and so we just wanted to keep that going for her.”

Jenna always made you feel like you were loved

—Yurij Kis

Aron Slipacoff, a friend of Morrison’s, said he and others are trying to set up a public memorial for her in the place where she was hit.

“Jenna always made you feel like you were loved,” longtime friend Yurij Kis said. “She brought you into the fold and I was very lucky to have been there.”

All the money raised will go toward securing the financial future of Morrison’s son, said event co-organizer Joey Gill.

“What we’ve done as a community, as a bunch of close friends and family, is come together and raise as much money as possible for her son Lucas’s trust fund,” he said.

The fundraiser included a live auction hosted by NDP MP Olivia Chow, who recently introduced a private member’s bill in the House of Commons that would make installing guards on the sides of trucks mandatory.

“People are galvanizing around her,” said Aron Slipacoff, a close friend of Morrison’s. “People have been putting forth petitions and talked to city councillors about putting side skirts on trucks.”

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By: Alima Hotakie
Posted: Dec 18 2011 8:41 am
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