Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has signed a proclamation designating March 8 as “Jana Mackey Day in Kansas” in memory of the 25-year-old Kansas University law school student who was murdered in July in Lawrence.

Mackey was well-known for her work on many women’s issues. After her death, Mackey’s family and friends established a national campaign to help her service live on through others.

Symbolic of the number of people who attended her funeral, the Eleven Hundred Torches campaign urges citizens to serve others.

Sebelius has joined the campaign and is calling on all Kansans to set aside time on March 8, which is International Women’s Day, to volunteer in their communities.

Special volunteer events are being planned in Hays, where Mackey grew up, and in Lawrence on that day.

Adolfo Garcia-Nunez, who was arrested in New Jersey in connection with Mackey’s death, committed suicide in a holding cell.