A heart felt thank-you to Southcentre Mall and their employees located in Calgary Alberta. Through their generosity and support of the local community, they have created a memorial garden --“Lindsay’s Garden” – in Lindsay’s honour. This garden will replace the tree memorial which was started by close friends in March 2005, and maintained by Lindsay’s parents. We’ll add new pictures over the years as the garden grows in.

The phone call
Breaks the normalcy of the day
The tragic words
Echoing the fragility of life
And a need to pray

A young life taken in her prime
Too soon
A mother’s grief burned into memory
Lives ruined

A tragic moment
Life turned on a dime
The senses go numb
Healing takes time
The answers won’t come
I just wish
We could see you
Dance
One more time

The empty spot
On our stage
Replaced by an image
Forever young
Watching an old video
Seeing you dance
To U2’s One
It’s obvious
You feel the music inside
We can only hope
That your dance is never done

Lindsay was is and always will be
A dancer
Her stage has changed
And we may never have our answer
But we can take strength
In a father’s words
You’re in the best place you can be
We’ll remember you
You remember us
And where life takes us, we’ll see?

Lindsay
You are deeply loved
And I truly do wish
We could see you
Dance
One more time
With any luck
Maybe we will

Authored by Ron

Coming soon

April 29, 2005
11:00 AM
Martha Cohen Theatre Calgary AB

Opening Tribute: The Rev. Drew Strickland, Southwood United Church, Board of Corps Bara Dance Theatre

It is an honour to be among you because Lindsay was. You have seen the picture board describing her dance life. They are pictures of a life that ended in youth, but affected so many because she was educated – shaped and formed - in dance. Thus, the theme of this International Dance Day, “Youth and Education in Dance”, is deeper in meaning and richer in value for us all.

A dancer is “an athlete of God”, said Martha Graham, “a servant of the soul.” I have reflected on her description of the dancer for years, and have come to think of dance as the bodily contemplation of the mystery of God, of creation, and of the human spirit. Dance is humanity’s common (body) language of transcendence. Jean Grande-Maitre says that it cannot be held accountable to reason, and that he could only believe in a God who knew how to dance” (quoting the philosopher Friedrich Nietzche).

These pictures of Lindsay become icons for us, for they point to what is transcendent about her now and the art of her life while she lived. I think it is because there is something compelling about a dancer’s death. It is always exceptionally tragic. For we cannot think of a dancer without thinking of them moving. In their stillness we are brought to profound stillness.

On this 23rd International Dance Day – which I will call earth’s dancing day - let us remember a woman of beauty and giftedness who lived and moved among us, and who now lives in our inspired memory and moves our spirits.

Still for Lindsay… silence is kept

International Dance Day Poster

2005 Dedication Web Page

The Lindsay Rachel Giacomelli Memorial Fund was established in Lindsay’s name as a memorial to her short life (June 18, 1984 to March 18, 2005). The goal of the fund is to keep Lindsay’s name and presence alive and to reflect her generous and caring spirit. The principle amount remains in the fund forever, and each year 5% from the fund is donated to a Calgary area charity as designated by my wife and me.

The donation for 2008 was made to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, in support of the Rotary/Flames House, Alberta’s first hospice for children, and only the 6th hospice for children in North America. This facility was built next to the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary.

Each year over 400 families in Alberta find themselves in desperate need of specialized support to help them care for their children with life-threatening illness. While these children do not necessarily require hospitalization, they still have complex medical needs. This means families are responsible for caring for their children at home, 24-hours-a-day, 7 days a week. Rotary/Flames House will give these families the professional support they need, and the opportunity to recharge mentally and physically, with the comfort of knowing their children are in good hands. Rotary/Flames House offers specialized care to these families, including:

Respite Care - 24 hour care of children on a temporary basis to allow their families time for rest and renewal

Transition Care - services for children with terminal illnesses who can leave the hospital

Symptom Management – helping the child and family deal with illness progression

End of Life Care - comprehensive services for both child and family during the last hours or days of a child's life

The 20,000 square foot, two-storey facility is designed to look and feel like a home, offering families an intimate residential setting. There are 11 bedrooms for children, two family suites and a sunroom, all with windows so families can enjoy an outside view and the many benefits of natural light. There are also therapeutic activity areas, a living room, a kitchen, den, rumpus room and rec room.

If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to The Lindsay Rachel Giacomelli Memorial Fund.  The goal of the fund is to keep Lindsay’s name and presence alive, and to reflect her generous and caring spirit.

As a university student, on a limited budget, Lindsay still found funds to donate to charities such as World Vision, the Tsunami Relief Effort and the Juno Beach Centre, which was built to recognize the sacrifice of Canadian WWII veterans.

Each year, the proceeds of the fund will be donated to a charity or charities which reflect Lindsay’s interests.

The initial grant in 2006 was directed to the Calgary Zoo in support of Lindsay’s interest in the new Elephant House.

In 2007, the fund grant went to The Military Museum located in Calgary, Alberta.  Click  for more info...

And in 2008 the Memorial Fund donated to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, in support of the Rotary / Flames House, Alberta’s first hospice for children, and only the 6th hospice for children in North America.

The donation for 2009 was made to the Calgary Health Trust in support of required equipment for the Intensive Care Unit of the Foothills Hospital.

The donation for 2010 was made to the Alberta Ballet. In recognition of Lindsay’s involvement in dance through the University of Calgary and with the School of Alberta Ballet, the Lindsay Rachel Giacomelli Memorial Fund will designate its primary donation to the “Artist Fund at Alberta Ballet”.  See the dedication to Lindsay from the Alberta Ballet in the Sleeping Beauty playbill from last October's performance.

In 2011, we donated to two primary recipients; the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation in support of the Special Children’s Fund, and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regiment (PPCLI) Museum and Archives Gallery Renovation. 

For 2012, the primary donation will be made to The Mustard Seed, in support of their affordable housing initiative. The Mustard Seed has been successfully housing our homeless neighbors since 1994. In 2007 they formulated a plan to create a purpose-built, affordable housing tower that would provide much-needed housing for the homeless of Calgary. The total cost of the initiative is $60.5 MM. The Mustard Seed public campaign has been set at $20 MM and to date approximately $11 MM has been raised. 

The 2013 primary donation will be made to The Calgary Health Trust in support of equipment at the Foothills Medical Centre Intensive Care Unit. A Total Care Sport bed from Hill-Rom ($42,000) and a Codman monitor ($8,300).  

In 2014 the fund grant was made to the The Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre (AARC). AARC is an accredited not for profit long-term intensive treatment centre for chemically addicted adolescents between the ages of 13 and 21. AARC is often the last hope for adolescents and their families. The families have tried other alternatives and have had no success. By the time they reach the doors of AARC their lives are in ruins and the family is desperate for help. You slowly watch your child destroy their life. We are extremely happy to assisting AARC.

For 2015, the primary donation was made to to the Kids Help Phone. Thanks in part to your support, Kids Help Phone can be there for the 725,000 young people in Alberta between the ages of 5 and 20 – approximately 20% of the province’s population.

Kids rely on the Help Phone for help with a wide variety of issues, from struggles with mental health to cyber-bullying, self-harm and abuse, relationships at home and school, and everything between. In fact, they reach out to the counsellors over 500 times every single day in one of the following ways:

• By phone – immediate and available anytime. Kids from 181 communities in Alberta reached out to Kids Help Phone by phone in 2013 , and calls from Alberta represented 10.1% of all calls to Kids Help Phone last year. This means approximately 58 kids from Alberta called the phone service each day in 2013.
  
  
• Through Live Chat – online and in real-time, available four nights a week. Requests for Live Chat counselling from Alberta represented 7.9% of all Live Chat requests in 2013.
  
  
• Through Ask Us Online – an online forum where young people submit anonymous questions and receive a time-delayed written response from a counsellor. Ask Us Online posts from Alberta represented 15.2% of the web post counselling service in 2013.
  
  
• Just as kids struggle with their emotions and life challenges, Kids Help Phone is struggling to keep up with the youth needing the services. When a child calls the counselling line, the average wait time in 2013 was only 26 seconds before one of the professional, caring counsellors answered the call.
  
  
• The donation from Lindsay’s fund will assist in making the Ask Us Online to be open more of the time and will assist expanding the service hours for Live Chat so more kids can receive support through online chat and spend less time waiting in the queue.

Over the years 2006 through 2015 the Fund has also donated every year to The Light Up Papua New Guinea Project in memory of Captain Nichola Goddard. This will help put solar powered LED lighting systems into medical clinics in isolated villages in Papua New Guinea

Please feel free to contact us at any time with any questions concerning Lindsay or the Fund. You can contact us through the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

It's That Time Again!

The 2015, 11th Annual Charity Golf Classic in support of the Lindsay Rachel Giacomelli Memorial Fund (through The Calgary Foundation) will be held on Friday June 12, 2015 at The Elbow Springs Golf Club in Calgary, Alberta. The format this year will be a shotgun start at 9:00 am for all groups, and we should be done and on our way home by 3:30 pm.

Thanks to your generous support last year, we raised over $48,000 at the event. This allowed us to make $25,384 in charitable donations in 2014 consisting of $10,500 from our Platinum Sponsors, and $14,884 from Lindsay’s Fund. $37,898 was deposited into Lindsay’s Fund which as of November 16, 2014 was valued at $408,386.

The Lindsay Rachel Giacomelli Memorial Fund was established in Lindsay’s name as a memorial to her short life (June 18, 1984 to March 18, 2005). The goal of the fund is to keep Lindsay’s name and presence alive and to reflect her generous and caring spirit (www.lindsaygiacomelli.com).

The fund will provide charitable donations to Calgary area causes forever, all in Lindsay’s name. This year’s primary donation will be made to the Kids Help Phone. Thanks in part to your support, Kids Help Phone can be there for the 725,000 young people in Alberta between the ages of 5 and 20 – approximately 20% of the province’s population.

Kids rely on the Help Phone for help with a wide variety of issues, from struggles with mental health to cyber-bullying, self-harm and abuse, relationships at home and school, and everything between. In fact, they reach out to the counselors over 500 times every single day.

We are accepting sponsors and registrations until April 30, 2015; however, I must warn you…in the last 3 years we were fully subscribed by January 31! This year we already have our returning Tournament Sponsor (Helical Pier Systems), returning Platinum Sponsors with commitments, Warwick Industries, Atlas Oil & Gas Process Systems Inc. and Lauren Engineers & Constructors, ULC., returning golf cart sponsors CMR Fabricators and Exile Automation; and returning Scotch Marshall Sponsor Accurata as well as 11 golf spots already paid and committed to. Please reply early. This year we will be looking for multiple Platinum sponsors. Thank‐you to all past sponsors and to the returning sponsors for 2015. We look forward to seeing you at the Elbow Springs Golf Club in Calgary, Alberta on Friday June 12th.

If you can’t attend, but would like to donate to the Fund, please go to https://payment.csfm.com/donations/calgaryfoundation/index.php, at The Calgary Foundation, where you can donate online to the Lindsay Rachel Giacomelli Memorial Fund.

         Sincerely,

         Leslie & Gerald Giacomelli