EAR TO THE GROUND

THE DEATH of three siblings as a result of cancer has two remaining sisters on a mission to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Sisters Jennie Firth Sheridan and Katy Firth, along with Sawrie Orthodontics, will host the second annual “Ride for Life” bike ride tomorrow at 8 a.m. at the Mountain Arts Community Center, 809 Kentucky Ave., Signal Mountain.

The event features 10and 25-mile courses that take cyclists through Signal Mountain’s historic Old Town district and Walden, while offering spectacular views of Chattanooga from Signal Mountain’s brow, according to a news release.

Bicyclists can register online at www.bikereg.com or onsite Saturday beginning at 6:30 a.m. Registration forms also are available at area bike shops. All participants will receive an event T-shirt, goody bag, snacks, drinks and the help of support vehicles. Nonriders can participate by being “virtual riders” — people who donate funds to the cause.

Proceeds from the event will support the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. This program enables researchers to achieve better cure rates and to enhance patients’ quality of life, the information noted.

For the Firth Family and their many friends, this cause is deeply personal. Sheridan and Firth lost their sister Mary Firth to melanoma in 2011. She was 35 years old. In 2008, brain cancer took the life of their sister, Molly Hooper, at age 36, and their brother, John Firth, at age 32 in 2009.

The bike ride was Mary Firth’s way of helping her sisters raise funds for cancer research. The inaugural event in 2011 raised more than $13,000 for the Dana-farber Cancer Institute.

For updates and more information, visit begoodbestrongride.com or “like” the event’s Facebook page: Ride for Life. Be Good. Be Strong.

For information about volunteering, contact Kristen Levi at kristenblevi@gmail.com.