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Haunted house in Kenmore raising money for cancer research in memory of a loved one

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KENMORE, N.Y. (WKBW) — A local family is raising money to help save others, as they go through tough times of their own. And they're doing it in a pretty scary way.

“It’s special. Halloween is special. you can play pretend and you can keep the imagination alive," said Kyle Mecca, Co-Founder of Darkorners.

They started this haunted house back in 2009 and ran it for several years before taking a break. It's an insane asylum right in there backyard.

“Stuff breaks loose, something happens and now you’re trapped inside the asylum with all the crazies,” said Mecca.

Kyle is the man with the plan and his father Jeffrey is the master builder. They worked on their operation for more than a month.

"It’s very close to our hearts this year,” said Jeffrey Mecca.

They’re bringing the haunted house back after a seven year hiatus as a tribute to Kyle’s mom Kathy.

"My mom who is one of our founders and one of the dear people who loves Halloween and loved doing this with us. She was diagnosed unfortunately with lung cancer,” said Kyle.

She loved seeing the kids enjoy the haunted house and hearing the laughter. One of her last wishes was to bring the haunted house back.

This year's haunted house is a tribute to Kathy Mecca
This year's haunted house is a tribute to Kathy Mecca

"[In] January she passed. So we kind of felt it was very very necessary for us to bring it back this year in her honor," said Mecca.

In years past, they always accepted donations for a charity at the door and this year, every penny will go to lung cancer research.

"I think she’s smiling down upon us, I think she’s with us every step of the way, every scare of the way," said Mecca.

They've already raised more than $600. Donations aren't required, you can give as much or as little as you'd like.

“We want to give back to friends family and the community since we’ve gone through some hard times and now with COVID this yearhopefully we can get a better world out of this," said Jeffrey Mecca.

They'll be enforcing social distancing and asking people to wear masks and use hand sanitizer when they stop by. Rather than large groups huddling through together, they're limiting it to three or four people at a time, which actually might make it scarier this year.

You can stop by October 30 and 31 from 6:30 to 10:30 at 376 Hamilton Boulevard in Kenmore. You can donate through Venmo @Darkorners.