The upstairs bar at Keys Fisheries will be a welcome respite next week for mission-driven paddlers pulling their weight to help eradicate the world’s most hated disease.
A select group of kayakers will pause in the Middle Keys as they complete a daunting 110-mile paddle down the length of the Keys island chain in support of the SebastianStrong Foundation. Created in 2017, the foundation takes its name from Sebastian Nicolas Ortiz, a 15-year-old who was diagnosed with a rare soft-tissue cancer and passed away after a 14-month battle including four surgeries, 32 rounds of chemo and 23 rounds of radiation.
Under the guidance of Sebastian’s father Oscar, the foundation raises and awards funding to support cutting-edge treatments and research for rare pediatric cancers that may struggle to receive funding and attention from mainstream sources.
It’s a mission, the elder Ortiz told the Weekly, that has become all the more relevant in the face of severe cuts to government-funded research, which has led to prestigious investigators turning to smaller organizations for help.
“These indiscriminate cuts to National Institutes of Health funding are going to cost people lives,” Ortiz said. “Grants that have normally been renewed without question are all of a sudden up in the air.
“Applications (for funding) we had this year were from people who normally wouldn’t apply to us. These are Howard Hughes investigators – people who would have never had to ask us for funding.”
Beginning Monday, May 12, Ortiz and his crew will undertake the multiday paddle from Key Largo to Key West – and on Wednesday night, Keys Fisheries will donate 15% of all sales from 6 to 8:30 p.m. to fund childhood cancer research and support families facing a cancer diagnosis.
The cause is personal for the restaurant and fish market, which lost beloved bartender Shannon Gosselin to her own battle with cancer in 2021. The staff, with the help of SebastianStrong, are currently rallying behind Switlik Elementary School student David Hernandez, the son of Keys Fisheries’ own Alex Hernandez, who was diagnosed in late 2024 with osteosarcoma at just 8 years old.
“We’ve been partnering with Keys Fisheries for years,” Ortiz said. “Obviously, these unfortunate circumstances hit home. We’re going to bring 12 or 13 families (dealing with a cancer diagnosis) down to kayak the last mile with us in Key West and give them as normal of a weekend as we can.”
Raffle tickets will be available to win an “Ultimate Sun and Sand Adventure Pack” with all manner of beach and boat equipment, plus a good amount of booze, and tickets are available online by visiting go.eventgroovefundraising.com/keysfisheriesraffle2025/Campaign/Details for those who can’t make the evening in person.
