Alvaro Chaux knows Saturday will be a hard day.
The 21-year-old will observe the one-year anniversary of the death of his friend Abigail Dougherty, a UF student who was killed while riding her bike on W. University Avenue on Oct. 28, 2016.
“I hope that day is full of happiness,” the UF accounting senior said. “The best way to cope with it is to not try to hide it was absolutely horrible, but at the same time remember how dear she was.”
Chaux won’t go through it alone. The Field and Fork Pantry and Campus Diplomats organized three events to honor Dougherty’s memory — a food drive, which took place over the past few weeks, a day of service on Tuesday and a yoga class scheduled on Dougherty’s birthday, Nov. 3. She would have turned 22.
Dougherty was involved with the pantry and Campus Diplomats, and she was a yoga instructor with UF RecSports.
The Field and Fork Pantry launched the food drive in Dougherty’s name from Oct. 9 to Oct. 23, which they hope will become an annual tradition.
“That girl literally breathed the Field and Fork Pantry,” Chaux said. “All she thought about was that pantry — how can we expand it, how can we help more students, how can we get more products?”
About 20 students participated in the Day of Service, which was held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Field and Fork Pantry, said Ambre Hobson, the assistant director of student success at the Dean of Students Office. Volunteers were divided into two groups — some labeled, weighed and coded the goods collected during the food drive and others helped out with the harvest at the pantry’s garden.
Hobson’s first impression of Dougherty was that she was a quiet person, but she soon learned Dougherty was funny and witty.
She said she often misses Dougherty’s spirit and she especially will Saturday.
“It’s still kind of fresh for some people, so we wanted to make sure we got through it as a community,” Hobson said.
Chaux, who’s a Campus Diplomat, met Dougherty through the organization. She had a quirky personality, he said. She skipped around hallways and seemed to always be humming a song to herself.
A particular story about Dougherty sticks out in Chaux’s mind.
As a diplomat, Dougherty was once assigned to give a tour of the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, but instead of walking around, she told them to sit down for a while and appreciate the sunset.
“I can only hope she’s at peace and happy wherever she is, probably making someone laugh,” Chaux said.
Students organize canned goods and other items at Field and Fork Pantry’s Day of Service on Tuesday.
