Kayla Bernardi, a beloved student and graduate of Turlock High School, passed away last winter after a brave fight with leukemia and the Kayla Bernardi Memorial Bee Positive Foundation now stands in her honor.

The Kayla Bernardi BEE Positive Foundation is hosting the first annual Bee Positive 5K Fun Run-Walk to celebrate all that was wonderful about her.

“We’re holding the event the weekend of Kayla’s 21st birthday,” said Cathie Bernardi, Kayla’s mother. “It will be a hard weekend but we wanted to celebrate her memory in a positive way.”

She is remembered as a bright, feisty, full of energy beautiful young woman and was very much a “busy bee,” which quickly caught on as her nickname.

“Kayla loved to be outside and have everyone together, and since I can’t fit 200 people inside my house we figured we better do a run outside,” Bernardi laughed.

All proceeds from the run will benefit the Kayla Bernardi BEE Positive Foundation, which will help support local community activities. A portion of the proceeds from this year will benefit Jessica’s House — a center for free grief counseling for children and families in a comfortable, safe environment.

The run will be held Jan. 30 at Joe Debely Stadium at Turlock High School. The registration form is online at active.com by searching Kayla Bernardi.

There is a $25 registration fee, and entrants registered by Jan. 20 will receive a t-shirt and goodie bag; race day registration will also be available.

“Our committee is encouraging all who knew Kayla, or those who were touched by this busy bee to join in on the Fun Run,” said Kristin Bettencourt, committee member of Fun Run-Walk. “It will be a morning of remembrance, celebration and friendship.”

Registration for the event begins at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. marks the start of the run-walk; rain or shine.

“The response has been so amazing; Turlock is such a gracious community,” said Bernardi. “People have donated, there are lots of sponsors and it should be a great celebration of her life.”