After their son Rocky died by suicide five years ago, Nancy and Rob Campana have turned the tragedy into hope for others, founding the “Run for Rocky” race in Windsor, Ont., that has raised $313,000 for LGBTQ initiatives.

This week, the Campanas were honoured with Governor General Meritorious Service Medals recognizing their “exceptional deeds that bring honour to the country” for their work in the LGBTQ community.

Rob Campana told CTV’s Your Morning that he and his wife are grateful for the recognition.

“When I heard we were getting the award, my emotions got to me. I started crying,” he said on Friday, adding it’s an honour that everyone who has worked on the “Run For Rocky” shares.

“The award isn’t just for Nancy and I; it’s for the whole community of Windsor and Essex County.”

Nancy Campana says, while the run has been a success, not all of its goals have been met. The run is designed to create funding models for Gay-Straight Alliance, or GSAs, which are student groups that provide support to LGBTQ members, and campaign against harassment and bullying.

Though Ontario passed legislation in 2012, not long before Rocky died, that mandated the creation of GSAs in any school that wanted them, the legislation does not address how the groups should be funded.

Through the Rocky Run, the Campanas have helped out GSA leadership mentoring programs, and provided funding models so that local schools can apply for grants for GSAs.

“We also wanted to fund the local Pride centre, because they saw a huge influx of need once our family became very vocal on what the needs were,” Nancy Camapana said.

The Camapanas are also continuing to campaign for changes to organ donation rules in Canada.

“Rocky was a vocal advocate for fair rules for blood and organ donation. When he passed away, he lived for two days and we tried to donate his organs and unfortunately, we weren’t able to, and the predominant factor was that he was gay,” she said.

Sexually active gay men are considered a high risk for organ and blood donation in Canada. But Campana says decisions on whether they should be excluded from organ donation vary across Canada.

“Right now, there are no consistent rules for organ donation in Canada when it comes to the organs of gay men and that’s something that we’re going to try to push more moving forward,” she said.

Campana says she will always remember her son as a person who treated everybody equally and who was always willing to give a little of himself to others.

“I will remember him as a giver. He was a giver until the end of his life. And if we can continue his legacy of giving, I know it’s something that he not only wanted us to do, he expected us to do it,” she said.