They leave for Key West at the end of the week

We wrote about the "Sea Hippies" in March, the group that was taking off from Coconut Grove to Key West by kayak to raise money for cancer research.

Well the time has come for the trip! They are having a kick-off party on Thursday, June 9, at Eric Pino's house (3167 Ohio Street) for a pot luck dinner. There will be food and drinks and buckets of beer around the house and yard for a small donation of your choice. There will also be a silent auction.

They are currently at $25,000 and would love to get much more for the cause. The party is from 7:30 to 11 pm. Everyone is welcome.

In 1998, a group of friends and co-workers from Columbus High School in west Dade, decided to paddle from Key Largo to Key West, just to see if they could do it and it has turned into the yearly fundraising tradition.

They will be taking off on the kayaks for the actual trip on Saturday, June 11 at about 6:30 am from Dinner Key.

You can follow the group of 12 on Twitter here.

You can read the inspiring story at the Castaways website here.

You can donate here.