Castlegar woman, 30-year-old Christine Archibald, was the Canadian killed in the London Bridge terror attack Saturday night.

Today, in front of Castlegar City Hall, long-time family friend Patrick Audet released this statement from her family.

“We grieve the loss of our beautiful, loving daughter and sister. She had room in her heart for everyone and believed strongly that every person was to be valued and respected,” he read. “She lived this belief working in a shelter for the homeless until she moved to Europe to be with her fiance.

“She would have had no understanding of the callous cruelty that caused her death. Please honour her by making your community a better place.

Volunteer your time and labour or donate to a homeless shelter.

“Tell them Chrissy sent you.”

Audet said the whole family is in shock and mourning.

“They’re trying their best to be together and support each other.”

He said the family wrote the press release, now available throughout national media, last night, as they tried to determine how to deal with the influx of press requests, and said they were working closely with the government in managing this most impossible of situations.

“She was born and raised in Castlegar – everyone who lived here knew their family.”

He said the family is unwilling to respond to questions about terrorism or to speculate on why this happened – in fact, their preference is to be left alone, and rightly so.

The attack killed at least seven people and injured 48 others before police killed three suspects.

Anyone wanting to donate to the Castlegar Community Harvest Food Bank/homeless shelter, please contact Deb McIntosh at 250-608-1047 (business hours are preferred, please).