Prospect-Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ken Wilson prepares one of the departments engines Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020.

Friends, family and community members will hold a benefit for Prospect’s assistant fire chief, Ken Wilson, on Saturday, Nov. 4.

Wilson, 51, who worked with the Prospect Volunteer Fire Department for more than 33 years, was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The local man is described by friends and family as funny, kind and reliable.

“He’s a jokester, always making you laugh,” his sister-in-law, Ronda Hinkle, said.

“He’s always there for everybody,” she said. “Kenny doesn’t say no to anybody. He’s always there and willing to help in any shape or form.”

The first meeting to plan the benefit involved a close group of family and friends, Hinkle said.

By the second and third meetings, she said the community support and number of people reaching out to help pitch in grew substantially.

“We were taken aback,” she said.

The process of organizing the benefit is a testament to Wilson’s impact on the community, Hinkle said.

“It speaks for itself, given the benefit, and the people who graciously reached out to help in any way they could,” Hinkle said.

“Living in a small community, you see that a little better,” she said. “Again, just from planning the benefit, it was apparent to us just how much (Wilson) has impacted the community.”

Seeing the community rally around the cause has been “humbling,” she said.

“It’s nice to see the community coming together to show support for somebody who has given so much through volunteering,” she said.

Wilson’s cancer diagnosis has been difficult for the family, Hinkle said.

“I was shocked, taken back, but willing to fight,” she said. “It was when (Wilson) told my husband and I that he wanted to fight, my husband looked at him and said, ‘We’ll stand beside you and fight it with you.’”

Planning the benefit has been a way for the family to process their feelings, she said.

“When we do get together, we’re not only trying to help (Wilson), we’re also talking about Kenny and (his wife) Terry and the things they’ve done,” she said.

She said her husband, Todd Hinkle, is a good friend of Wilson’s; the two have also worked together in the fire service.

“I said (to Wilson), with your firefighter family, you’ve gone into battle with them when going into fires,” Hinkle said. “Now it’s time we battle with you.”