ELLSWORTH, Maine — On Saturday, the 3rd annual Kinsley Ray Memorial 5k Run & Walk was held at the Ellsworth YMCA, a branch of the Down East Family YMCA.
This year's event started with a fun run for kids at 8:45 a.m. and was followed by the walk/race at 9 a.m.
Kinsley Ray was four months old when she died from a rare form of Leukemia in 2018.
"She was the sweetest thing. She had the best smile and the cutest laugh, just like her dad," Chelsea Sawyer, Kinsley Ray's godmother, said.
More than 250 people participated in the walk/run this year. Sawyer said it's all to spread awareness and raise money in Kinsley's honor.
"This is really important to raise money to do some more research for the leukemia and lymphoma society," Sawyer said.
The 5k raises money for three nonprofits: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of New England, the Kinsley Ray Camp Discovery Scholarship, and the Down East Family YMCA.
Robin Clarke is the Down East YMCA Fitness and Race Director. Clarke said the Kinsley Ray Camp Discovery Scholarship raises money to send a little girl to camp each year.
Clarke said the community wanted to find a way to support Kinsley's family after their loss nearly four years ago.
"We knew we couldn't take away the pain but we wanted to do something, rally around these parents and show them how much we cared," Clarke said.
Each year, Clarke said they raise the most amount of money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of New England. This year, Clarke said the total amount of money raised for that charity alone is around $15,000.
"I think it helps let them know that we haven't forgotten her either, we're not going to. And it's honoring her to raise the money to help other families going through this," Clarke said.
"She was... just a ray of sunshine is what we called her. She was Kinsley Ray Archer, the ray of sunshine," Sawyer said.