A small display of solidarity by a group of Lower Mainland mothers turned into a global outpouring of support as thousands donned their favourite jerseys Thursday in honour of those killed in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.

High school teacher Teresa Oakland was part of a group of about 10 women trying to figure out a way to send their support to the families of 16 people who died after the Broncos' team bus collided with a semi-truck in Saskatchewan last Friday.

"It was the morning, everybody was just so sad about what they heard, trying to figure out: What could we do? What could we send them?" she told CTV News.

"Maybe because I'm a teacher, I thought it would be really great if every player could wear their jersey to school across Canada on the same day. That was the original idea."

But after creating a Facebook event and the hashtag #JerseysForHumboldt, the idea quickly spread far beyond the sports community and even beyond Canada.

Thousands of people used the hashtag Thursday, posting photos of themselves wearing sports jerseys.

People from as far as China and Abu Dhabi took part in the remarkable display of solidarity.

"Jersey Day" included some notable names such as B.C. Premier John Horgan, federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, members of the Senate, singer Shania Twain, former NHL-er Bob Wilkie, HGTV's Scott McGillivray, Alberta United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney and many more.

Locally, the Vancouver Police Department and staff at the Vancouver airport also participated, along with RCMP divisions across the country, the Canadian air force and dozens of sports teams.

"It kept growing and growing…We were just amazed at how quickly it went because it took so many people to get that going," Oakland said.

The Broncos themselves tweeted saying, "We see you. We hear you. We love you. We are all #HumboldtStrong."

"We all cried at that," Oakland said. "Really, that was the whole point of this—for them to feel that we, all over Canada and now the world, that we love them and we're with them and we're here for them."

Jersey Day is just one of several efforts to help those impacted by the tragedy.

Since the accident, Canadians across the country have been placing hockey sticks outside their front doors in a show of solidarity with the rural community.

Jersey Day fell six days after the devastating collision and on the day the youngest victim, Adam Herold, would have turned 17.

Valerie Murdocco has planned a vigil between 8 and 9 p.m. at the Coquitlam Leisure Complex Thursday.

"The purpose of the vigil is to show respect and raise some money for the people that have been affected by this horrible, tragic event," she said.

Another vigil will take place in New Westminster.

A GoFundMe campaign started by Humboldt woman Sylvie Kellington surpassed $10 million in donations Thursday.

Donations can also be made via direct bank transfer, using account number 5033709 and transit number 03178.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Allison Hurst