Newsroom

BFO Midwestern no longer releasing butterflies at fall memorial

After careful consideration, Bereaved Families of Ontario – Midwestern Region has made the decision to no longer offer a butterfly release as part of our fall memorial event.

Many factors influenced this decision:

• Monarch butterflies are currently on the endangered species list.
• There are risks associated with commercially raised butterflies, and releasing them in the wild may have potentially devastating environmental effects.
• We no longer feel comfortable with the practice of packaging and shipping live butterflies.

We acknowledge and respect that this news may be difficult for those who attend the Butterfly Release Walk to Remember every year. We will be hosting a new memorial event this fall that will continue to create an opportunity to connect with others, share in our grief and honour the people in our lives who have died.

We are excited to share that we are partnering with Sustainable Waterloo Region to create a meaningful and environmentally responsible way for folks to honour their loved ones through the planting of a microforest.

The butterfly remains a symbol of hope and will be woven into the event in new and different ways. We just won’t be releasing live butterflies as part of the ceremony. We look forward to sharing more about how you can participate in this beautiful new event.

Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to seeing you this fall. If you have any questions, please contact us at admin@bfomidwest.org, or call 519-603-0196.