After the fifth and final Run for Rocky last year the Campana family decided to keep his spirit alive in the form of the Run for Rocky Legacy Project.
Rocky Campana died at just 23-years-old in 2012 after attempting to take his own life, since then the Campana's have dedicated themselves to helping others in the LGBTQ community.
Five years later they've raised more than $383,000 to support Gay-Straight Alliances in local high schools and post-secondary schools
The city of Windsor declared April 9 Run for Rocky Day, and while the family has wrapped up the run, Rocky's mother Nancy says they will continue to raise a little bit of money each year to maintain the fund through community events.
"There's money in the bank, but obviously at some point that will be spent and tapped out, so is there a way we could possibly bring in a little money every year," says Campana.
She tells AM800 News the organization takes pride in assuring 95% of the funds raised go to helping support programs reach their goals.
"Twenty-five per cent of that went to Windsor Pride because their office got very, very, busy suddenly with visibility of Run for Rocky," she says. "The rest of the funds go into supporting gay-straight alliances in our high schools, the University of Windsor, and St. Clair College."
Nothing will ever replace her son, but Campana and the rest of the family have found solace in carrying out Rocky's wishes.
"Youth keep coming into our life, we know there's still education to be done so I guess it feels good that we've been able to do the work that Rocky knew needed to be done," she says. "That does give us some peace and keeps us in touch with Rocky."
Events begin Sunday April 8 and run through May 1. A pride flag will be raised at city hall Monday, and will fly until April 13.
Campana says the family hasn't ruled out bringing the run back after a brief hiatus.
(Courtesy of Nancy Campana)