{"id":132709,"date":"2026-01-26T22:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T22:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132709\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T22:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T22:15:09","slug":"cinco-de-dodgeball-tradition-honors-late-tampa-firefighter-this-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132709\/","title":{"rendered":"Cinco de Dodgeball tradition honors late Tampa firefighter this spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ThreeCredit: Courtesy of Event Heroes of Tampa Bay<\/a><\/p>\n

Tampa firefighters are trading \u201cstop, drop, and roll\u201d for the 5Ds: dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge.<\/p>\n

The Tampa Firefighters Museum will host its annual tradition of Cinco de Dodgeball on Saturday, May 2\u2014its ninth celebration of late firefighter Matthew Bunch.<\/p>\n

The event raises funds for the Matthew T. Bunch Foundation<\/a>, which the museum established in 2017, two years after 27-year-old Bunch died following his eight-month battle with pancreatic cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue to his sense of humor and spirit, he chose to \u2018leave the party\u2019 on Cinco de Mayo\u2014a day now celebrated in his memory,\u201d a Facebook post from the Tampa Firefighters Local 754 read.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joy Bunch, managing director of the museum, appreciates how the event gives other firefighters and their families the space to engage in an activity that echoes her son\u2019s athleticism and fun spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really what we want to do\u2013just have everybody stop and pause, bring your wife, bring your kids, and just have a little bit of fun with an old-school kind of game that people don\u2019t really talk about,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Proceeds from each party go to a firefighter in financial need due to medical services or treatment, per the foundation\u2019s site<\/a>. This year, the foundation aims to help three firefighters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bunch\u2019s family and friends host the fundraiser in support of the museum as well. The idea to host a dodgeball tournament also partially sprung about from younger fire rescue employees, Tampa Firefighters Museum Vice President Bill Wade recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of came out of Matthew\u2019s friends\u2013or the young, as I refer to the young people on the job\u2013as trying to find a unique way to remember their friend,\u201d Wade said.<\/p>\n

Wade told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay he\u2019s especially pleased to see that the event brings younger generations to the museum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just has blossomed into a wonderful, high-energy event that the young folks really support,\u201d Wade said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Cinco\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Matthew T. Bunch foundation aims to help three firefighters with financial need this year.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"DI\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe first DI Coffee Bar opened in 2014 on E Davis Boulevard., where Perez and his wife, Marilyn, work as homebuilders.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Proposal\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe bill\u2019s sponsor voted against it in previous legislative sessions.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

This article appears in Jan. 22 \u2013 28, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

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