This year’s Dylan Moore Days Festival will benefit two young people — Deshonta Gregory and Harrison West.

The festival is set for September 17 and 18 at the Halifax County 4-H Livestock and Horse Complex off Highway 903 outside Halifax.

Gregory was diagnosed with Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis at age 7. FSGS causes kidney failure.

She had a kidney transplant in 2012. Her new kidney is failing, and she is in need of another kidney transplant.

West was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma in 2015. Since his diagnosis, he has only been off chemo for two years but not consecutive.

He underwent a month of radiation in January of 2021 and has been back on chemo since July of 2021. His care team is at Duke Hospital in Durham.

The festival honors its namesake, a 7-year-old battling a rare blood disease known as Fanconi Anemia. He succumbed to the disease on July 26, 2009.

Since that time the city of Roanoke Rapids proclaimed September 18 as Dylan Moore Day. “This day is an opportunity for the community to come together in an effort to never let the memory of young Dylan fade from our thoughts.”

The festival is also about paying it forward. “During Dylan’s long battle, the amount of help he received was overwhelming. The family knew they would never be able to pay it all back, so they decided to pay it forward. Dylan Moore Day became not only an annual celebration of Dylan’s life, but a benefit to raise funds for another family in the community going through a medical crisis. It was such a huge success, Dylan’s family decided to make it an annual event.”

A full list of activities during the festival can be found on its website at this link.