Severe, N.J. - A few days after the brothers John and Matthew Gaudro were hit by a driver while riding a bike on the eve of their wedding of sister Katie, family and friends visited their family and Jane at home during a heavy rain. Looking outside as the sky cleared, they saw a pair of rainbows, bringing them some short-lived peace.

Jane Gaudreau has not received any signs of her son since, so she sat in their room Friday asking them to do some sacred interventions and clear the bad weather in time to commemorate their legacy. After a brief panic of the tornado the night before, the rainbow appeared for about an hour on Saturday morning, and the first Gaudreo Family 5K Walk/Run and Family Day appeared the hour before.

"I'm relieved," Jane said. "I was like, 'Okay, there's my sign.'"

Thousands of people participated in Lake Washington Park in southern New Jersey, and John and Matthew went hundreds of times around the corner of Hollydell Ice Arena, and they started playing hockey. In the United States, Canada and around the world, about 1,100 people actually participated in a walk or a run.

"I think it's a family, they're a family, how close they are, everyone loves around," said Captain Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senator. "You just see the support of this community and other players, who are traveling here. It's just a lot of sayings about Johnny, Marty, their legacy and the whole family, how much support they get because they're such a great person."

In addition to commemorating NHL star "Johnny Hockey" and his younger brother's family and friends named Matty, the event aims to raise funds for an accessible playground at the Archbishop Damiano, where Jane and her daughter Kristen work. This is why John and Matthew advocated in honor of their grandmother Marie, who spent 44 years at school and died in 2023.

After death, this became a project for the mother.

"Jane works with children with disabilities every day and she knows that the construction of the playground is very important," said family friend Deb Vasutoro. "The playground is a project, I think it's a four to five year project and never had enough funds. When the boys passed away, Jane needed a purpose, and she thought, 'Let's build the playground.' It's the perfect marriage to do some good honors and see the kids laugh and smile."

Rev. Allain Caparas of Gloucester Catholic High School who grew up at Carneys Point and played for hockey, said raising funds for the playground was an extension of their impact on the community.

“They are continuing to change the lives of many others,” Capalas said. “Johnny and Matthew are purposefully living their lives, and now we are celebrating that.”

Social media is full of people mentioning the NHL cities of Columbus and Calgary played by John Gaudreau, and is far from Ireland and Sweden. Paul O'Connor, a family of Gaudreau with son Dalton, was a childhood best friend with Matthew, who couldn't clear his inbox as he kept getting notifications about registration and donations.

"It's been growing," O'Connor said. "The people who can't be here, they're doing a virtual person (5k). If they can't do that, they're just throwing money for the career."

Guy and Jane both burst into tears as they talked about the incident. His speech to the crowd was short and poignant at the same time.

"I want to thank everyone for coming," Guy said after passing 5K. "It really means a lot to Jane, girls and family. We miss boys, and it's really important for us to make you respect my boy here. Thank you."

First in the rain the ocean of people, then the sun includes the whole hockey people. Tkachuk wore a "Johnny Hockey" hoodie under Gaudreau's name and ranked 13th on the back.

He collected the sticks from various vigils with late August and early September, and played with other players Erik Gudbranson, Zach Aston-Reese, Tony Deangelo and friend Buddy Robinson.

“Our family won’t miss this,” Gudbranson said after a Friday night flight after a trip to Walt Disney World. "Hockey is a very stressful community. It's still a tragedy. We miss the boys."

The goal is to lift this event every year, probably in Calgary and Columbus.

"We think it's a good thing to remember the boy we want to keep it up," Jane said. "I just think it's getting better every year."