When Cutchogue firefighter Drew McCaffery passed away from cancer in August at the age of 41, he left behind grieving friends and family across the North Fork.
To honor his life and to raise funds for cancer research, McCaffery’s brother Michael has organized a memorial 7K race with proceeds going to the Fire Fighters Cancer Support Network, the Kanas Hospice Center and to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
“Drew touched so many lives in his 41 years here with us; we want to keep touching more,” said Michael, the race’s director.
The Drew McCaffery Walk/Run will be held on Nov. 11 in Cutchogue, beginning at the corner of Route 48 and Bridge Lane and will end at the Cutchogue fire house, where Drew served for 24 years as a firefighter, captain, chief and commissioner. Along the way, runners will pass by Drew’s home and the church where he was married to his wife Lauren.
The race distance is 4.37 miles (about 7 kilometers) in honor of the fact that Drew was the 437th member of the Cutchogue Fire Department, Michael said.
Michael hopes that money raised from the race will help others and added, “There’s a quote that I’ve taken to heart that I saw about six months ago, a quote I believe speaks to the essence of my younger brother. I don’t know who said it, but it struck a chord with me: ‘Our fingerprints never fade from the lives we have touched.’
Registration starts at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11. The race begins at 8:30 a.m. You can register online here and each participant will receive a T-shirt and a memorial medal. Registration ends November 10, 2017 at 6:59 p.m.
