The memory of a Cookstown-bred volunteer firefighter will be commemorated by 18 family members and friends next weekend.

Last November, 26-year-old David Kent succumbed to cancer. He was extremely well liked throughout the close-knit, south Innisfil community, and is missed by all who knew him. To keep Kent’s flame alight, the men and women participating in the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life event in Alliston the night of June 13-14 have formed two teams – Dave Kent Lusters and Dave Kent Lusters #2.

Jaime Kennedy of Milton will be one of the participants.

“My boyfriend, Scott McIntosh, was one of Dave’s best friends,” Kennedy says. “We’ll have people from Cookstown, Alliston and Barrie coming out. We’re just hoping we can raise a lot of money for a good cause.”

The first team is composed of Kennedy and McIntosh, along with captain Marieke VanDorp, Andrew Patton, Darren Sawyer, Lindsay Harrington, Jeff Bedford, Anne Bedford and Tammy Vibert.

The second squad consists of captain Richard VanDorp, Dave ‘s mother and father Ellen and Paul Kent, his sister and brother, Lisa and Michael Kent, Nancy Cole, Adam Beare, Brad Dunstan and Candice Wey.

Relay For Life is more than a fundraiser, according to the Canadian Cancer Society’s website.

“It’s an opportunity for people whose lives have been touched by cancer to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost to cancer and fight back in hope of finding a cure for this terrible disease.”

Money generated from the event goes towards research, information services and support programs and advocating for public policies that either prevent cancer, or help those living with it.

And as part of the annual Wing Ding festival this Saturday and Sunday (June 7 and 8), “We’ll be setting up outside the Paul F. Kent Funeral Home at 16 King St. North in Cookstown, across from the fire hall,” Kennedy says. “We’ll be having a bake sale and selling bracelets in Dave’s honour, as well as collecting pledges.”

Alliston’s Relay for Life starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 13 at the Eighth Ave. Youth Centre and continues until sunrise Saturday, June 14. A special luminary ceremony takes place at 10 p.m.

Kennedy says pledges to either of the two teams, or its individual members can also be made online at the link provided.