“Catherine” Butterflies Soar to Honor Birthday of Young Victim of Sandy Hook School Shooting – NBC Connecticut

There is a vibrant anniversary celebration of what would have been Catherine Violet Hubbard's 18th birthday. After she died at age six in the Sandy Hook school shooting, her family created Catherine's Butterfly Day to celebrate her life.

At the festival on Saturday, a sea of ​​purple and butterfly designs everywhere represents everything Catherine loved.

“When she collected butterflies in the summer and took care of them throughout the day, she would send them at the end of the day, and she would do it with a nice little request to tell their friends that she was nice.” said Jenny Hubbard, Catherine's mother. “In her mind, she really felt like they would come back to her in droves. she loved them all.

Catherine's favorite creature inspired her to have a purple butterfly birthday party when she was three.

“It was literally backyard birthday parties,” Hubbard said. “I made the invitations, and they were all handmade, and then the games!

Today, 12,000 people are celebrating what would have been Catherine's 18th birthday.

“She would be graduating from high school this week and starting a new chapter in her life,” Hubbard said.

During this colorful celebration, a special honor is reserved. This June 8, the North American Butterfly Association symbolically renames the monarch butterfly. On Catherine’s birthday, it’s the “Catherine butterfly”.

“We were thrilled and very grateful,” Hubbard said. “It’s such a poignant reminder of everything we have done and everything we continue to do in Catherine’s memory.”

Down to the smallest creature, Catherine loved all animals, as evidenced by her visits and works of art; the six-year-old even started her own business and created business cards calling herself a “pet sitter.”

That's why her family opened the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, a 34-acre safe haven on farmland in Newtown. The sanctuary has found forever homes for 800 animals, provided free veterinary care and pet food to 450 financially insecure pet owners, and educated 150,000 people.

“I think when a person learns how to care for an animal, they are transformed in some way,” Hubbard said.

Catherine's passion for animals is also the reason why every year dozens of animal rescue organizations bring adoptable animals to her Butterfly Party. Last year, 158 animals were adopted and another 250 will be put up for adoption during this year's celebration.

“I think she would be thrilled,” Hubbard said.

On this significant day, Catherine's butterfly festival echoes the birthdays of her childhood and the butterflies fly away bearing her name.

“I often asked myself: what would she do now?” Hubbard said. “But more than not, I'm just very grateful for the time I had with her and I think about all the birthday celebrations we had together.”

For the little redhead with a huge heart, a community comes together to spread a message of kindness towards all living beings.

Governor Ned Lamont sent a proclamation which is on display at Catherine's Butterfly Party. It recognizes all the work that the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary does in caring for animals and encouraging people to be empathetic.

You can learn more about the animal sanctuary and its work at cvhfoundation.org.