Port Moody teen starts campaign in memory of her aunt, Trina Hunt

A Port Moody Grade 12 student has launched a fundraising campaign in memory of her late aunt, Trina Hunt, to support women affected by gender-based violence. The initiative began on Monday as the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence got underway.

The campaign was created by Taylor Ibbott, who said in a statement on her GoFundMe page that her Grade 12 Capstone project is dedicated to raising awareness about gender-based violence. Hunt was found dead in 2021 after being reported missing in January of that year.

“This project is inspired by my aunt, Trina Hunt, one of the 1,125 women lost to gender-based violence in Canada between 2011–2021,” Ibbott wrote. According to the page, Ibbott plans to establish an annual bursary “for women personally impacted by GBV and pursuing education as part of rebuilding their lives or for women involved in activism or community work related to GBV.”

Ibbott hopes to raise $11,250 and reach 1,125 donors, with each donor representing a woman who lost her life to gender-based violence during that 10-year period. “Please Donate $10,” she wrote. “With a gift of $10 you become one of the 1,125 donors each standing for a life that was tragically lost.”

Earlier in her project, Ibbott sold more than 1,125 purple tulip bulbs—a flower her aunt loved and a colour symbolizing solidarity in the movement to end gender-based violence. “I raised $3,000 and donated it to the Battered Women’s Support Services,” she stated.

All funds from the current campaign will go toward creating a scholarship and bursary program in partnership with the Port Moody Foundation, which will be able to issue tax receipts for larger donations once the fund is formally established. “By contributing, you are helping build something that lasts beyond one project—you are helping create a legacy of hope, year after year,” Ibbott wrote.

Ibbott also encouraged donors to share the campaign. “Please share this GoFundMe with 10 of your friends. My goal is to reach as many people as possible,” she said.