Dearest Kenny
Tribute to volunteer who didn’t let cancer stop him from pitching in
BRENDA CURREY
I am a proud resident of Westwood. My neighbours are some of the finest you will find in Edmonton. I am a disabled person, living life using a wheelchair. An electric wheelchair for the most part. Helpful and generous with their time, my neighbours will often help me out — sometimes without me even asking for it — with things such as grass cutting and snow removal. I have limitations, but also have a lot of abilities that you wouldn’t think I would have. But this story is not about me.
Every spring, Westwood has its neighbourhood cleanup. Every resident is encouraged to meet at our community league, pick up a clean-up kit consisting of a garbage bag or two and a trash picker (provided by the City of Edmonton), and take any route they want to pick up any waste they see on public property. After the jaunt around the neighbourhood, a free burger, pop, and chips are provided at the well-kept hall.
In July of 2021, I met a man named Kenny Smith and we hit it off very well. He was a great supporter of my interests and participating in the Westwood Earth Day Community Clean Up was definitely on my list so he was more than happy to help and join in. He was quite community minded. This past spring, 2024, after having been diagnosed with cancer the previous September, he still gladly participated despite being in a stage 4, In and out of the hospital most of the year, sometimes in severe pain, he found the energy and the will to once again, for the third year in a row, participate and help clean up the Westwood community after another long Edmonton winter.
Sadly, he succumbed to his aggressive stage four cancer (nearly a year after being diagnosed), on August 21, 2024. I just want people to know that Kenny was not even a resident of Westwood but still knew and felt the need to participate for the greater good. So, may I encourage many more people, residents of this or any other community to answer the call to help make their area a little bit cleaner and more livable for yourself and the enjoyment of the people around you this year? Litter, or the lack of it is such a reflection of a neighbourhood. Cancer or other ailments may be a stopping point for many and that’s understandable but the point being, of course, is that it just takes spirit and a little effort to make a big impact for all to enjoy and reap the benefits of a cleaner and healthier environment.
A really lovely tribute.