Help bring my Ate Rizza home

Hello, my name is Shelby, and I’m writing this on behalf of my family as we navigate an incredibly painful and heartbreaking time. We are mourning the tragic and unexpected loss of my dear cousin, Rizza, a loving wife, devoted sister, and cherished loved one to so many.

Rizza was one of the lives taken far too soon during the tragic incident at the Vancouver Filipino Lapu-Lapu Street Festival on April 26. The shock and sorrow are still unimaginable, it feels like a terrible dream we can’t wake up from.

To know Rizza was to truly love her. She was the sweetest soul, kind-hearted, humble, and hardworking person. She moved from the Philippines to Winnipeg with her husband in search of a better life. When she found herself without close family there, we encouraged her to come to Vancouver so she could be closer to us, to be surrounded by love and support.

Now, in the wake of this unthinkable loss, our family is asking for your help. Leaving her husband, younger brother, and a few of us here in Canada, we are doing everything we can to reunite Rizza with her loved ones back home in the Philippines, to lay her to rest with the family who raised her and loved her deeply.

Any support, no matter how small, would mean the world to us. Your kindness will help bring comfort to her grieving family and ensure that Rizza is honored with the dignity and love she deserves.

Even a share, we are grateful for any help.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your compassion, generosity, and prayers.

With love,
The Alarca and Pagkanlungan family