FILE PHOTO - Missing Kamloops woman Shannon White with her dog Buddy.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK

A childhood friend of a missing Kamloops woman wanted to celebrate Shannon White's 33rd birthday yesterday with random acts of kindness and she hopes to make it an annual event.

The Acts of Kindness event was held via social media yesterday, Feb. 21, according to White's friend Susie Meszaros. A candlelight vigil was also held in Kamloops.

“I was hoping that the small acts of kindness would celebrate her kind and giving nature, and bring awareness that she is missing," Meszaros, who lives in Hamilton, Ontario, said. "It is also a way for all of us to heal."

White disappeared on Nov. 1, 2021, when she left her Kamloops home to drive to work. Her Jeep was found parked on Nicola Street near 3 Avenue.

The Acts of Kindness wave reached far and wide, and a wide variety of good deeds were carried out.

READ MORE: Search for clues in Shannon White’s disappearance expands to north of Kamloops

“We got responses from people in the states and four provinces in Canada,” Meszaros said. “Shannon had a lot of friends. I chose to donate to a homeless shelter.”

Meszaros said people donated to an animal shelter, gave to the homeless, donated tins of cat food and shovelled their neighbour’s driveways.

“Someone also made banana bread to give to another person,” she said. “Someone donated books to a neighbour. A lot of people bought some type of cake and enjoyed a slice on her behalf. Someone else bought a hitchhiker gloves at a truck stop.”

Meszaros said she grew up with White in Stony Creek, Ontario, and the two had been close friends for 27 years since meeting at a park when they were little.

READ MORE: Three months later, no sign of Kamloops's Shannon White

“I’m really struggling with her being missing this month and especially because of her birthday,” she said. “Yesterday I cried multiple times and was able to read the comments, which helped me through the pain. It is a way to change the negative pain into something positive." 

Meszaros is hoping Acts of Kindness becomes an annual event on and around White’s birthday to help her friends and family heal.

Friends of Shannon White, who has been missing since Nov. 1, 2021, held a candlelight vigil on her 33rd birthday, Feb. 21, 2022.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Candice Evans-Nantais

In Kamloops, members of White’s Jeep community gathered together at Bachelor Heights for a candlelight vigil last night, while others participated by lighting candles and posting photos and comments online. 

"We had quite a few show up and someone handed out small cards with Shannon's face and awareness information on them," said friend and fellow Jeep enthusiast Candice Evans-Nantais. "We had candles in our vehicles. No one is giving up that’s for sure, so many people are still supporting, praying and hoping she is found soon."

No new information from the RCMP on the case has been released.

Anyone with information on White's whereabouts is asked to call Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000.

— This story was corrected at 10:40 a.m. Feb. 23, 2022, to clarify that Stony Creek is in Ontario, not Alberta.

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