It’s said that losing a child is the hardest thing that a parent can go through. When Gerda Chason lost her son Clifford, she felt like she “wanted to die too.” But through her grieving, Gerda discovered how she could ensure that her son’s legacy would live on.

Gerda and Clifford were close and had bonded over their shared passion for animal rights. The two enjoyed vegetarian meals together, read PETA literature, and worked to end animal homelessness. But Gerda’s world was shattered in an instant when Clifford lost his life in a car accident on Highway 27 near their home in Bainbridge, Georgia. “I did not see how I could continue living,” Gerda recalls. “For five years I grieved; I still grieve, but I finally saw that my grieving would not bring him back; I had to do something.”

It was then that Gerda had an epiphany: Instead of placing flowers near Highway 27, she would erect a billboard educating people about the meat industry. She would place a message where her son died that could save the lives of countless animals. “This gave me some comfort,” she remembers. So she kept it going. “I always choose two billboards (I have both sides): one for vegetarianism and the other for humane treatment of animals. I have been doing this for 15 years.”

Gerda’s billboards have encouraged commuters to stop eating animals, boycott the horse racing industry, adopt their companion animals from shelters, and much more. One side is always devoted to saving animals from suffering on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, since, as she describes it, “That was and still is my main concern.” She places the PETA logo on each one, because “PETA was my first contact and I thank PETA for helping me clean up my life.”

She went vegetarian years ago after seeing a PETA commercial. “All my life I wanted to be a vegetarian, but I did not know how. So one day I heard a message from PETA on television; I perked up and said, ‘I want that’ … and ordered a vegetarian cookbook. … From that time on I wanted to be a member of PETA to stand up for animals and protect them.” Now she helps others do the same thing.

And much like Gerda makes sure that Clifford’s legacy lives on, hers will continue after she has passed. As a member of PETA’s Augustus Club, she will leave a legacy for animals because she has named PETA in her will. She says those funds were “meant for” helping animals—just like Gerda and Clifford themselves.