The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting on the second Sunday in December unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor the memories of the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren who left too soon. As candles are lit on Dec. 14, 2025 at 7 p.m. local time, hundreds of thousands of people commemorate and honor the memory of all children gone too soon.

The Modesto Area Chapter of the Compassionate Friends is presenting the local version, putting on its annual Candle Lighting program at 7 p.m. on Dec. 14 at Community Hospice, 4368 Spyres Way, Modesto.

Those planning to attend are asked to arrive early to pick up their candle. A display table will be available to share a framed photo of your loved one. To accommodate the many photos that will be on the table, photos for display should be no larger than 5-by-7.

Members of the Modesto Area Chapter will also be presenting a slide show again this year as part of the local program.

Those attending are invited to enjoy refreshments before and after the program. For more information or if you have questions, reach out to: tcfmodestoriverbank@gmail.com or call 209-622-6786.

Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the annual Worldwide Candle Lighting (WCL), a gift to the bereavement community from The Compassionate Friends, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. TCF’s WCL started in the United States in 1997 as a small internet observance and has since swelled in numbers as word spread throughout the world of the remembrance. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held, and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes, as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died and will never be forgotten.