Amanda Katz lost her mother in 2017, and for years, she and her sister navigated Mother’s Day alone. While the grief of losing a parent isn’t confined to a specific day, Katz understands firsthand how holidays like Mother’s Day can bring up a whirlwind of complex emotions. 

“Mother’s Day, the Hallmark holiday that brings joy to so many, is pretty unavoidable,” says Katz. “It’s on display in every shop window. Gift ideas for mom, flower bouquets for mom…for us, it’s hard to figure out how to deal with that day. I think most people actually end up hiding from it.” 

This all changed last year, when Katz launched Motherless Day. Equal parts celebration and commiseration, this community-based event is an opportunity for anyone who has lost a mom to reclaim Mother’s Day. Instead of grieving alone, attendees can find solace in community and receive extra support and connection on a difficult day. 

“I decided to create a space for us to connect with others who get it, where you don’t have to apologize for laughing or crying,” says Katz, who describes the event as bittersweet—there were tears, but also joy, laughter, and new friendships formed. “We call it the pity party that you actually want to go to.”

This year, Motherless Day is coming to both Toronto and Vancouver on May 11. At the Toronto event, which sold out weeks in advance, Katz has a full day of meaningful activities planned to help attendees honour their late mothers, including memory collages, flower-pressing, journaling, card-writing, and on-site poetry. 

Another highlight of the event is a talk from Wendy Litner, writer and creator of the Crave original series My Dead Mom. Litner lost her mother in her early 20s and channelled her experiences with loss into the show, which is a comedic take on her grief journey. 

“It’s just incredible to have somebody with us on the day that, of course, has that shared experience with us, but also has found a way to channel her grief and hardships into something that’s creative and positive…and also increases the ability for people to have conversations around loss, grief, and bereavement,” Katz says.

The funds raised from Motherless Day will support CAMH, Canada’s largest mental health teaching hospital. In 2024, the event raised $15,000, which was already matched through this year’s donations, with an increased goal of $20,000.

For Katz, this is a deeply personal cause—she lost her mom to suicide after a lifelong battle with mental health. “Grief and mental health often go hand in hand. We can find ourselves struggling with how to navigate an experience that we never imagined that we would be in,” she says. 

Katz says that she hopes Motherless Day will become a nationwide initiative, but she also wants to build a community that can offer support during the other 364 days of the year. Through The Parentless Club, Katz and her co-founder Nikki Lewis hope to host more meetups, share resources, and provide guidance for those looking to support friends in the days, weeks, months, and years following their loss. 

“The community is really to help connect with people who get it, who will continue to ask questions, who will continue to support you on those anniversaries of passings and birthdays, when the ‘checking in on you’ texts stop from everybody else who’s moved on in their lives,” says Katz. “The more spaces that we can create on Mother’s Day and on all the other days, the better support we can give to the people that need it.”

Click here for more information on Motherless Day and The Parentless Club.