Edited and Approved by Phyllis Webstad & Joan Sorley

Orange Shirt Day was inspired by the story of a survivor named Phyllis Webstad. When Phyllis was 6 years old she went to Residential School for the first time wearing a brand new shiny orange shirt. When she arrived at the school her shirt was taken away and never to be seen again.

To Phyllis the colour orange was a symbol that she did not matter. Today she has learned to accept the colour and even have fun with it and now the orange shirt has become a symbol of hope and reconciliation. By wearing an orange shirt on Orange Shirt Day, you make a powerful statement that residential schools were wrong and commit to the concept that EVERY CHILD MATTERS.

The Orange Shirt Society is a nonprofit society, based in Williams Lake, BC that guides the Orange Shirt Day movement. The purposes of The Society are:

• To support Indian Residential School reconciliation.
  
  
• To create awareness of the individual, family, and community intergenerational impacts of Indian Residential Schools through Orange Shirt Society activities.
  
  
• To create awareness of the concept of "Every Child Matters".