Mollie Tibbetts would have been 21 years old May 8.

To honor the University of Iowa student who was killed last year after going missing July 18, $21 donations to the Brooklyn Opera House are being encouraged by her family.

Tibbetts grew up in California then Brooklyn, Iowa, and loved speech, singing and acting. She was missing for five weeks before her body was discovered last August.

“On May 8, 2019, we will celebrating Mollie's 21st birthday," Tibbetts' mother, Laura Calderwood, said in a news release. "It is only fitting that on this day, we recognize the fundraising efforts of the Brooklyn Opera House. ... It is also a building where Mollie's grandmother, grandfather, mother, aunt, and uncle spent countless hours volunteering time and energy.”

One anonymous person has pledged to match the first $500,000 in donations, according to a news release from Mollie's Movement, a community service organization helping with the event. The total amount of money raised will be announced at a public event Wednesday at the Michael J. Manatt Community Center.

“Brooklyn Community Development, the non-profit restoring the Brooklyn Opera House is honored that Mollie's Movement and the Tibbetts Family thought of us for Mollie's birthday celebration," the release states. "She lived an art-filled life with a dedication to her community, and we hope to fulfill everything she would have loved about this project.”

For more information on the Brooklyn Opera House or to donate in Mollie’s honor, visit www.brooklynoperahouse.com.

The man accused of killing Tibbetts, undocumented immigrant Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is set to begin his first-degree murder trial in September. Lawyers for the 24-year-old requested a change of venue from Poweshiek County, and the trial has been moved to Woodbury County.

Investigators have said at a news conference that Rivera admitted to confronting Tibbetts while she was jogging the night she disappeared last July and that he led them to her body, which was found near Guernsey in rural Poweshiek County.

An autopsy revealed that Tibbetts had been stabbed to death.

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“Mollie ... saw in us all our best qualities and characteristics — our most heartfelt desires and aspirations, and all the things we love about the world," her father, Rob said in the release. "Mollie took those things and made them her own, in her own distinct way. In doing so her life was an evolving tapestry of the very best of us.

"Mollie was an irresistible reflection of everything we love in ourselves and why we will all love her so dearly for the rest of our lives.”

Follow the Register on Facebook and Twitter for more news. Tyler Davis can be contacted at 515-284-8378, tjdavis@dmreg.com or on Twitter @TDavisDMR.