The Firemen's Association is turning the annual breakfast into a fundraiser for one of its young firefighters who is battling cancer.

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Proceeds from the fire department's Super Bowl breakfast won't go to the association this year.

Instead, all of the funds raised are going to the family of Lt. Devon Whalen, who is battling Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Whalen was diagnosed last year with the disease. He recently returned home after an extended stay in Boston for treatments.

 

"He went through one whole regiment of treatment already and they thought it worked, but it didn't," said PJ Pannesco, who heads the Lanesborough Volunteer Firemen's Association.

 

"He's a tough kid, a fighter."

 

Just in his early 20s, Whalen had wanted to be a firefighter since childhood. His father, Don, a Pittsfield Firefighter who started in Lanesborough, used to bring Devon and his brother Kyle with him to the station. As soon as he could, Devon joined the volunteer department.

 

"It's in his blood," Pannesco said. "He's been around since he was a baby."

 

And they can't keep him away. Whalen continued to show up at calls until right before Christmas.

 

The annual breakfast held every Super Bowl Sunday typically raises money for the association's maintenance of the fire station. But this year, the association is giving all the money to the Whalen family to help offset the out-of-pocket costs associated with the treatments.

 

"We hope we run out of food and have to turn people away," Pannesco joked when asked about fundraising goals.

 

The volunteers typically feed some 200 people at the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast. This year, they're hoping to at least double that and are planning to pull to trucks out of the bay to make room for extra seating.

 

"The more people we feed, the more money we raise. And that means more money can go to the Whalen family," Pannesco said.

 

The breakfast starts at 7:30 on Sunday morning and continues until 11:30 a.m. But if there are still people wanting food and they still have it, Pannesco said they'll go until as late in the day as needed.