Love and compassion brought hundreds of people to Acalanes High school in Lafayette to remember Brett Olson on Tuesday evening as a popular young man who drowned over the Labor Day weekend.
His friend since grade school welcomed the crowd of people to his celebration of life.
“I want to let you guys know that it was the love and compassion of the tens and thousands of people across the world that kept us going,” Shane Wright said.
The Cal Poly student’s body was found in the Sacramento River on Sunday after he was reported missing while participating in a Labor Day weekend of tubing on the river.
His friend since first grade, Julianna Del Beccaro, decided early she wasn’t going to give up. She started a Facebook page called "Let’s Bring Brett Home." In just a couple of days, 18,000 people joined it.
“I under estimated the amount of community support that we have the amount of lives that Brett Olson has affected,” Del Beccaro said.
In just three days, the page had some 30,000 friends including well known movie stars and athletes.
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On Tuesday, the page has almost 93,000 members.
Olson’s father, Michael Olson, told the crowd that gathered on the school grounds to celebrate his son’s life that Brett’s legacy will be his ability to bring people together. He said good friends and the power of social media proved that.
“He wasn’t student body president, he had his own unique way of connecting with people. He loved people," Michael Olson said.
