Northville family follows amazing path to honor late matriarch’s legacy

In the summer of 2005, 8-year-old Kyra Dahring visited the hospital bedside of her seriously-ill mother, Tawny, to show her the travel soccer uniform she had recently earned.

In 2000, Tawny Dahring had been diagnosed with breast cancer — a disease she valiantly fought to conquer with every fiber of her body and soul, her family emphasizes.

“When my mom saw my jersey, she was so excited,” Kyra Dahring remembered, pausing briefly to battle the emotions the memory conjured.

“The cancer had spread to her lungs, brain and liver by that point, so she couldn’t talk, but I could tell she was so proud.”

Sadly, Tawny Dahring, who resided in Northville with her family, passed away from the effects of cancer in August of 2005 at the all-too-young age of 38.

Fabulous foundation

As a way to keep Tawny’s incredible spirit alive, the Dahring family launched the Tawny K. Dahring Foundation — a donation-fueled non-profit that has, for the past 20 years, raised money that directly supports cancer research as well as individuals afflicted with all forms of cancer.

“Right after my mom passed, my dad (Kirk) wanted to keep her memory alive because we lost her at such a young age,” said Kyra, now a podcast producer for CNN in New York City. “It was a way for her to still be with us.”

Thanks to the efforts of sisters Kyra and Kayley Dahring, Kirk Dahring and Kim Dahring, who Kirk married three years after Tawny’s passing, and an army of big-hearted volunteers, the foundation has raised thousands of dollars dedicated to fighting the dreaded disease that took the beloved Tawny.

Among the fundraising events organized by the Dahrings is a Barndance For A Cure, held each year in November — the month of Tawny’s birth.

Egg My Yard: a fun, popular fundraiser

Another fun and innovative event that has captured the hearts of residents of Northville and beyond is the Egg My Yard fundraiser, which consists of volunteer “Bunnies” — often members of the Northville girls lacrosse team Kayley Dahring coaches — placing plastic Easter eggs filled with candy on the lawns of families with young children on the eve of Easter.

Families can choose between four different-priced packages of candy-filled eggs (25, 50, 75 and 100), which are assembled by the Dahrings and volunteers the week before Easter.

The fundraiser is limited to people who live within a 10-mile radius of Northville.

“Kim came up with the idea in 2021 because everyone was shut in, for the most part, due to COVID,” Kyra explained. “It’s been a huge hit as we’ve averaged about 115 families participating each year since.

“A lot of our volunteer bunnies are members of Kayley’s Northville lacrosse team. They each are assigned around six or so houses, and the parents are notified what time they’ll be showing up on the night before Easter so the kids won’t see the bunnies hiding the eggs.”

The deadline to sign up for this year’s Egg My Yard fundraiser is April 5. You can register by clicking here.

‘(Tawny) would love it’

What would Tawny have thought of the fun event?

“Oh my gosh, she would love it,” Kyra said. “She would think it was so cute!”

Other fundraisers the foundation hosts or participates in are Who’s Your Bartender and a Holiday Toy Drive.

Kyra Dahring, who as a high school senior was a member of Northville’s 2014 state championship soccer team, said all the work and logistics that are required to coordinate the foundation’s fundraising events are well worth the effort.

“My mom always used to say, ‘To live in the hearts of the ones we leave behind is to never die’,” Kyra said.

“Running this foundation is a best-case scenario to make sure my mom’s incredible legacy never dies. It’s taken a village, as they say, but every minute we put into this is a testament to my mom’s spirit.”

Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.