Image Credit: Submitted/ B.C. RCMP
March 15, 2018 - 5:30 PM
SUN PEAKS - This weekend marks Ryan Shtuka's 21st birthday and there's one thing his family wants everyone to do on that day.
Heather and Scott Shtuka have been searching for their son since he went missing in the early morning hours of Feb. 17 after leaving a house party on Burfield Drive in Sun Peaks.
This Saturday, March 17, Ryan is turning 21 years old and to celebrate Heather wants everyone to perform a random act of kindness in Ryan's name.
"Scott and I would like to believe in Ryan's lifetime he would perform a great many acts of kindness," Heather says. "To have that one day where we can just focus on showering love and light on so many people and have so many people touched by Ryan… what a better way to celebrate Ryan’s birthday."
Image Credit: Submitted/ B.C. RCMP
When it comes to random acts of kindness, one of Ryan's stands out to Heather. It was a couple of years ago, and the Shtuka family was in Richmond for a ringette tournament. They were flying home early on Easter morning and Heather was worried she would be late setting up an Easter display for their youngest daughter.
Ryan, then 19 years old, told her not to worry. He went to the store and got Easter baskets, and hid chocolates around the house.
Heather says it's hard for her and Scott to accept some of the help, especially financial help, that people have been offering ever since Ryan's disappearance.
"I just thought 'OK, but let's do something different on that day, let's do something where we're not always asking for ourselves.'"
She wants to keep the focus on giving back to the communities that have helped her and her family through this time.
"I never thought I would be the mother of a missing child, a missing person, a missing loved one," Heather says.
She's interested in seeing what people will come up with for random acts of kindness. She hopes that all of the acts, no matter how small, will make an impact on someone's life.
"Maybe months down the road I can say the purpose in all of this was to change one persons life," Heather says.
She says her goal for Saturday is to avoid crying, unless it's from happy tears. She'll allow herself to cry the day before, and the day after, but March 17 will be a day dedicated to love and life.
"I can cry, but I can't stay there because its not going to get my son found."
If you have any ideas for creative random acts of kindness to perform on Saturday, please leave them in the comments below.
The family is looking for volunteers daily to help search at Sun Peaks. You can go to the Missing Ryan Shtuka Facebook group to learn more about how to help.
A GoFundMe has also been set up for the family.
If you perform a random act of kindness on Saturday, you can go to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtags #KindnessForRyan and #INTHEIRNAMESryanshtuka.
The family is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to Ryan's whereabouts.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/RCMP handout
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News from © iNFOnews, 2018