Come Celebrate Kira Stanley’s Life At Her ‘Big Ol’ Life Celebration Party’!

The family and friends of Kira Stanley, the North County teen that recently succumbed to her battle with brain cancer, are throwing a ‘Big Ol’ Life Celebration Party’ in her honor January 18th!

Anyone that knew Kira Stanley knows that she wanted us to party rather than mourn…so that’s what this will be all about!

The entire community is invited to come to celebrate with us, share stories about Kira, and get and give hugs.

About Kira

Kira was a student at LCC, a summer surf instructor at Concept Surf on D street in Encinitas, and was your typical local teenager, albeit pretty great at surfing.

In October 2017 she started having blurred vision and by November 2017 she was diagnosed with DIPG, a rare aggressive form of pediatric cancer that has a zero percent survival rate and normally claims its victim within 9 months.

This is the same cancer that took Neil Armstrong’s daughter many years ago and advances on how to treat/cure have not moved forward.

Kira beat the odds by having revolutionary treatment in Mexico. Kira fought like a badass for over 2 years and passed away on Christmas Day 2019. Throughout this 2 year period, she inspired and touched the lives of thousands with her spirit, determination, and humor.

Creating Awareness Through #BTHP

Kira wanted to make sure that as much attention as possible was directed toward the many other children and families she met that were also fighting cancer, and started the #BTHP movement to do so.

BTHP stands for ‘brain tumor hall pass’, which is what she’d use with family and friends whenever the symptoms of her cancer were overwhelming and she needed a break.

Kira and the #BTHP movement attracted the attention and support of Kelly Slater (World Surf League Champion), Rob Machado, Billie Eilish (Singer-Songwriter), President Barack Obama, Joe Biden and many more celebrities in the sporting and media world. She’s had local news coverage from CBS, NBC and Fox5 along with international recognition from the World Surf Federation.

Over $400,000 was raised through fundraising and surf contests to help cover the cost of her treatments –  which were incredibly expensive at approximately $25,000 each.

During the battle, two things stood out: 1) the remarkable community support in more than just fundraising, and 2) the incredibly compassionate care at Rady’s Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald  House that made such a difference for her and her family.

Memorial Fund

A memorial fund will be created from money already raised and those raised from a raffle being held at the party, and any funds raised over and above those necessary to cover Kira’s medical bills and associated expenses will be distributed to groups and organizations which supported Kira and her family during this journey.

Many businesses, including Chick-Fil-A (Kira’s food of choice), Lost Abbey, ViewPoint Brewing, Solterra Winery and Kitchen, and Culture Brewing Co have donated staff, food, wine and beer so that as much money as possible can go to the memorial fund.

Additional sponsors include Concept Surf Shop, Zenefits, Blenders Eyewear, Slater Designs, and Palomar Mountain Spring Water.

Donations to the Memorial Fund can be made at Kira’s GoFundMe page.

Paddle Out

To kick off the celebration, there will be a Surfer Paddle Out at 12 pm on Saturday at Moonlight Beach – pending water conditions – followed by a bonfire on the beach.

Please arrive early to prepare if you’d like to join in.

The Party

The party will take place at the Del Mar Fairgrounds Mission Tower Building from 6-11 pm on Saturday.

There will be a DJ, live bands, and Chris Cote (World Surfing League presenter) working the party as MC for the evening.

We will celebrate Kira with pink hair extensions, a temporary tattoo station (with her artwork), a surfboard signing and note station, a photo booth (with Kira props), a donation raffle which will include large prints of Kira’s artwork, Kelly Slater signed shirts and other items…and more!

Join us to help celebrate Kira’s amazing life!

Please RSVP for the party on the Facebook Event to help us with our planning!

See you there!