Grieving parents have helped to launch the Light the Way Holiday Campaign to support two programs at the local Canadian Mental Health Association.
"We were walking dead," recalls Michelle Kuhlmann whose 23-year-old son Aaron Kuhlmann was killed in a car accident in Kingsville two years ago.
The campaign features five trees at Devonshire Mall and people are asked to donate $2.00, write the name of a loved one on a paper ornament and hang it on the tree.
The trees are located in the old food court area at Devonshire Mall and the campaign runs until November 30th.
Proceeds support the Bereavement Program and the Client Assistance Fund.
Mike and Michelle Kuhlmann spoke at the campaign launch on Thursday about the support they received after the loss of their son in January 2017.
Michelle Kuhlmann said she was paralyzed with grief after two officers knocked on her door with the news.
"Honestly, I thought I was going crazy, I had no desire," she says. "I sat on my couch and the thoughts in my head and I thought I can't keep living like this."
She says the program provides a safe place to express your grief with other parents who understand.
"You just need to be able to cry and be not OK," she says. "You are safe there, your feelings are safe there and they completely understand."
"When we first started going, we could barely get his name out and it was, 'our son was killed, our son was killed' and you choked through it and then it got to be our son was in an accident," says Kuhlmann.