Following the passing of freshman Ryan Whitney on December 11, parents, teachers and students alike have banded together to create something to keep his memory alive in the school community and remind students that they are cared for. Together, they created hundreds of t-shirts, all displaying “LLRW” (Long Live Ryan Whitney) on the front, and distributed them to students on December 16 for $20 each. The funds were donated to the Whitney family to show support following Ryan’s death.
Jennifer Keys, parent, helped manage the fundraiser and contributed to the making of the LLRW shirts.
“We’ve known the Whitney family for ten years, and as a mom, I can’t imagine the loss that they’re experiencing, so I just wanted to do something to ease everything that’s going on in their lives and show support for their son,” Keys said.
Other parents involved in the distribution of the t-shirts included Stephanie Snyder who hopes the fundraiser will help support the family.
“We’ve been able to give a contribution to the family of the proceeds. So I think that’s important just to show extra support,” Snyder said.
While the t-shirts have monetary value, the t-shirts also communicate a message of remembrance and belonging to the entire school community.
“It’s keeping his memory alive, but [also] hoping to keep in kid’s thoughts that they are not alone, so that they know that everybody that is hurt from this loss that they can turn to those kids and hopefully have somebody that they can reach out to if they need to,” Keys said.
Parent Kary Birdsong knew Ryan personally through her son.
“[My son] has grown up with Ryan since kindergarten and they were a tight group growing up, so Ryan’s been in my house growing up, so we knew him really well,” Birdsong said.
Freshman Lake Williams was one of the many students to purchase a shirt at the fundraiser.
“I was good friends with him. I cried. I was numb. I didn’t have any expressions,” Williams said.
Freshman Jayce Bello also bought a LLRW t-shirt to commemorate Ryan.
“I went to middle school with him,” Bello said.
By creating these t-shirts, everyone involved is keeping Ryan’s memory alive for not only the present, but for the future, so that his story can be told to others.
“It keeps the memory alive of the person who’s no longer there. After the immediate loss, you want to keep the presence of who they were around, and this is a way of doing that in our community and around,” parent Jennifer Schipper said. “And someday they’re going to wear that shirt somewhere, and someone who doesn’t know Ryan already, they’re gonna be like, what’s that about? And then they’re going to get to tell his story on and on.”
