The Santa Barbara community is invited to come together for the 10th Annual OneLegacy Organ Donation Celebration Walk & BBQ, 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20 at Leadbetter Beach.

The approximately two-mile walk route goes from Leadbetter Beach to Stearns Wharf and back. The walk, which is free to attend, starts at 3 p.m..

The event honors the legacy of organ donors, including Vivian Beutel, a nurse in the NICU at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, who became an organ donor after her sudden passing at the age of 41.

“Beutel cared for the most fragile lives in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, treating her tiny patients and their families with unparalleled diligence, dignity and compassion,” OneLegacy organizers said.

“Long after her patients left the NICU, she remained deeply committed to their journeys, organizing the Annual NICU Reunion at the Santa Barbara Zoo to reconnect families, nurses, and care teams,” they said.

When Beutel died unexpectedly after complications from a brain aneurysm, she became an organ donor, saving five lives, including W. Scott Burns, who received one of her kidneys; and Connie Buchs, who received her lungs.

The Santa Barbara Beach Walk and BBQ, created in 2015 to honor Beutel’s gifts through organ donation and her fondness for the ocean, has blossomed in the last decade into a celebration of all lives saved through organ donation.

Attendance has grown from a dozen people inspired by one donor to hundreds of advocates for organ donation.

Burns, who is and a OneLegacy ambassador; Buchs, a Donate Life America ambassador; and Beutel’s family walk side by side at the event.

“She saved my life,” said Burns. “But more than that, I got to know her through her family. I now walk each year not just to honor my second chance, but to honor the kind of person she was.”

As the memorial event continued year after year, more recipients, family members of donors, and medical professionals, even those unfamiliar with Beutel, participated in the walk to honor the power of organ donation.

At the free barbecue following the walk, Beutel’s nephew will fire up the grill to serve the community, furthering his family’s spirit of giving.

The 10th anniversary event will also have music, remembrance activities, and opportunities to talk with donor families, recipients, and healthcare heroes.

Register at https://runsignup.com/Race/CA/SantaBarbara OrganDonationCelebrationWalkandBBQ.

The event is supported by sponsors, including OneLegacy, the federally designated organ procurement organization, serving seven Southern California counties, including Santa Barbara. Other sponsors include local groups Live Like Viv, Ride Through History, and Home Improvement Center.

Currently, more than 105,000 people are waiting for lifesaving organ transplants, OneLegacy reports. One registered donor can save up to eight lives and heal countless others through organ, eye, and tissue donation, the organization said.

Becoming an eye, organ, or tissue donor ican be done by registering online at donateLIFEcalifornia.org/OneLegacy or by “checking YES” at your local DMV.

For more, visit OneLegacy.org.