WESTPORT–Rachel Hope Doran continues to positively impact her community more than eight years after her death.

Doran, a lifelong Westport resident and 2015 graduate of Staples High School, died in August 2018 from a rare reaction to common medication, and her family on Oct. 4 will hold the fifth annual “Rach’s Hope Family Fun Walk” to honor Doran and to raise money for families with children facing critical illnesses and extended stays in an Intensive Care Unit.

“This event is about more than taking a walk,” Lisa Doran, Rachel’s mother and co-founder of “Rach’s Hope,” a Westport non-profit, said in a press release. “It’s about remembering Rachel, celebrating the people who continue to walk beside us, and reminding families facing critical illness that they are not alone.”

“Whether you’ve been with us every year or this is your first time, there is a place for you on this walk.”

This year’s walk will take place from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Ned Dimes Marina in Compo Beach. The event will feature live music from Fairfield’s Ellis Island Acoustic; gourmet pizza from Pizza Pie Wagon, a mobile food truck based at Vazzy’s Osteria in Monroe; beer and wine from Greens Farms Spirit Shop; black-and-white cookies, which were Rachel’s favorite cookie; and Rach’s Hope swag.

Lisa Doran said Saturday that $50,000 is normally raised from the annual walk, not including donations that come in afterward.

“Rach’s Hope” also holds a PJ Gala for adults in March around Rachel’s birthday. “That’s our huge fundraiser,” she said.

Money raised by “Rach’s Hope” goes toward lodging, transportation, food, counseling services, and camps for siblings of children who died from life-threatening illnesses, Lisa Doran said. “When we help families, we’re very specific to their needs,” she said. “We jump in and do whatever it is you need so you can focus on your child. It’s very individualized support.”

“That’s what our families and friends did for us.”

Rachel Doran died Aug. 17, 2018 in an ICU at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan. She died 35 days after she was first admitted to an ICU in Bridgeport Hospital’s Burn Center, having been diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. She then developed Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Before her illness, she was a senior at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. majoring in fashion design management and was an intern in the fashion world. She founded “Rachel’s Rags,” a company that hand-makes pajamas, at the age of 11.

Michael Isenberg, 85, Rachel’s grandfather, made a personal commitment to walk 1,000 miles a year in memory of his granddaughter, according to the press release.

Lisa Doran said the annual walk started because her father and Rachel used to exercise together. “He’s been doing this for five years now,” Lisa said of her father. “He was super, super close with Rachel and they both exercised a ton.”

Tickets for “Rach’s Hope Family Fun Walk” are $25 for students from 11 to 20 years old, and $50 for adults. Children younger than 11 can attend for free.

Tickets include Rach’s Hope swag, pizza, dessert, live music, and beer and wine for those at least 21 years old.

“Rach’s Hope” has raised just over $1 million since it was founded in 2018 and has helped dozens of families cover expenses associated with their children’s illnesses and extended stays in an ICU, Lisa Doran said.

She said her daughter was helpful, thoughtful and “goodness to her core” and that her death was “a huge loss for all.”

“We move forward knowing she would be so proud of what we were doing for other families,” she said.

For information, visit the website, or contact Lisa Doran at TeamRachsHope@gmail.com.