BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo firefighter Jason Arno was laid to rest in March. He died while fighting a fire in the city's theater district.

An organization is being formed to honor his legacy and give back. It's kicking off with a fundraising event this weekend.

According to Arno's wife and his childhood friend, setting up a foundation and getting the ball moving in a positive direction was an absolute must.

With support coming in from across the entire country. The idea of the foundation came quickly, and while the kickoff event will be this coming weekend, the idea and everything running up to it has been very much in the works and almost happened instantaneously.

There are essentially four pillars that the foundation is going to be working on. They include scholarships for students of first responder families, getting support animals involved with both veterans and first responders and then a separate fundraising effort that will focus more on logistics for different firehouses and first responder companies, as well as the direct impact and relief for families who have been through situations like this before.

"Anything that ever happened to Jason’s life, no matter how big or small, you know, his first thought was, what can I do to help the people that are being impacted?" asked James Fierro, foundation president and Arno's friend. "And I think that was also our push we're all still really sad recovering from it.

"It affected everyone and it was an absolute tragedy," said Sara Tierney, foundation board member. "But, you know, now we're able to do something positive from it. And, you know, carry on his legacy in a positive, beneficial way."

This weekend's event is sold out at capacity. There may be a few leftover tickets at the door.

The concept that the family and everyone involved with the foundation really wanted to get out there to the public is that they are moving again in the right direction. They are trying to take all the hurt and all of that recovery and move it in a direction where they're able to help other people either avoid incidents like this or make sure that anyone in this region who has ever been impacted by something like this has something to lean on.