Organizers for the Seventh Annual Step It Up! Cure Pancreatic Cancer 5K and Family Fun Day held November 19, 2016 announced that the event raised $88,279. The event is the Pancreatic Cancer Association of Western New York’s (PCAWNY) major annual fundraiser providing financial resources to support local research efforts.
Over 800 people attended the event which was held at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Gordon Field House. The afternoon has evolved over the past seven years from a 5K walk into a family fun event, including an indoor 5K walk around the track, children’s activities, and guest appearances by the local sports team mascots, Disney princesses and Batman. Scott Spezzano, 98.9 The Buzz, served as master of ceremonies.
Steve Whitman, retired teacher and six-year pancreatic cancer survivor, served as the event’s Honorary Chair. Whitman, 65 years old and otherwise healthy and active, was diagnosed May 2010 with pancreatic cancer after experiencing acute abdominal pain.
On June 30 that year, he had the Whipple surgery which currently gives the best chance of a cure for the disease. However, only 20 percent of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are even eligible for the surgery. Whitman continues to undergo infusion treatments every three weeks.
Whitman remarked, “It has been an honor to serve as the honorary chair and work with the extremely committed and passionate members of the Pancreatic Cancer Association. I am grateful for the top notch medical care, the expert researchers at Wilmot Cancer Institute, for the Pancreatic Cancer Association, for what the organization does to raise not only awareness but also the funds to fight this horrible disease and create hope for patients and families.”
“We can’t thank the community enough for their support this year,” said Mary Ellen Smith, executive director of the Pancreatic Cancer Association of WNY. Smith added, “Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease and we need to fight it aggressively by funding research that will lead to a cure and to improving quality of life. The dollars raised at the grassroots level through community fundraisers like our Step It Up event are so important because national funding is extremely low at only two percent.”
Smith also noted that researchers at Wilmot Cancer Institute have been able to leverage their donations over the past several years into multi-million dollar grants to advance local research efforts by experts in pancreatic cancer.
Over the course of six years, PCAWNY has donated more than $545,000 to Wilmot’s research efforts including $100,000 earlier this year towards their pledge to donate an additional $500,000 over five years to support the development of a Pancreatic Cancer Center of Excellence at the University of Rochester and Wilmot Cancer Institute.
“It’s a tremendous feeling to be able to tell our donors the impact they have and that every dollar is being maximized in the fight against pancreatic cancer,” Smith added.
Pancreatic Cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. More than 53,000 people are diagnosed annually and 42,000 lose their battle within the first year of diagnosis. The five year survival rate recently inched up from six to eight percent. However, pancreatic cancer has seen relatively little to no change over the past forty years compared to the mortality rates for most major cancers which are in the double-digits.
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