killed in a car accident on Hwy. 148 near Quyon on March 8, 2020. Jacynthe Bélair, a long-time friend of the couple decided to memorialize the two with a bench in their honour at the Chutes Coulonge where they both worked.

Bélair said that she’s known Marion since they attended pre-Kindergarten together and met Vibert when the couple started dating more than a decade ago.

“They always managed to make everyone laugh,” she wrote in an email to THE EQUITY.

Bélair added that she got the idea for a memorial back in October 2020.

“I wasn’t sure how to go about it all, but the families of Karine and Todd were helpful along with a few good friends of mine, especially Lise Lagarde as she helped me put this whole project into place and helped me get started,” she wrote.

After launching the GoFundMe on May 18, it has already surpassed its goal of $1,550.

Vibert and Marion both worked at the Chutes Coulonges, from 2015 and 2014 respectively to 2018. Bélair said that she had discussed the location of the memorial with the park’s general manager André Piché and it will likely be located outside the main chalet.

“What gave me the idea for the bench … Honestly, I just wanted to do more,” she wrote. “I felt like I needed to do something more for them because they definitely deserve it and I wanted to give everyone something to remember them by. I figured there was nothing better than a bench at their favourite place, plus friends and family members will be able to visit also.”

She added that since they’d already hit the target amount for the bench, the rest of the funds would either add to the memorial or go to charity.

“At this date, we are still waiting on an exact price quote but in less than two days, we have reached our goal of $1500 through the GoFundMe and we have received extra through cash/e-transfers,” she wrote. “It goes to show how very loved they are by friends, family and this beautiful community that we live in. I could not thank every one of them enough for their donations.

“There will be the bench and we will be looking into a metal plate with their names to add onto the bench. We have not talked about anything else but it definitely would not be a bad idea,” she added. “We have talked about donating what’s left of the funds if there is left over funds.”

Bélair said that they would be aiming to install the memorial in September, to mark what would have been the couple’s 11th anniversary.

The fundraiser can be found here: https://gofund.me/d967ba83

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