Will you join me at the Puget Sound PanCAN PurpleStride walk on Saturday morning, April 29, 2023?

The 3 mile walk is FREE for anyone. It starts at 9:30 am in Magnuson Park in Seattle. The Premier Sponsors of the walk are the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.

Although the walk is free, I am seeking donations of any size to get me to my fundraising goal. During the week or so before the walk, I will match the total of the donations from my friends, up to $5000. So if you help me raise $5000, I will pony up another $5000, and PanCan will get $10,000.

If you are in town that day, I would love to see you there!! If you want to walk, you need to register, and it would be great if you would register as part of our STEVE STRONG team, by using the link on this page. Before you register, please read the MORE INFO FOR WALKERS at the bottom of my message. There are a few things that I found confusing when I registered.

If you can’t do the walk and want to support my cause with a donation, that is easy too! Just click the MAKE A DONATION button at the top of this page or the DONATE TO MARY button at the bottom of this page. (I don't know why the web designer put in two buttons with different wording, but all the funds that I raise via my friends get credited to my family's team as well as to my personal fund raising efforts.)

OUR TEAM

My nieces Claire and Maureen set up STEVE STRONG in honor of their father (my younger brother). Steve has been fighting pancreatic cancer since August. It is a formidable foe and is generally diagnosed in late stages. 

My siblings and their spouses will be flying into town to join the Seattle Contingent (my brother’s wife and daughters plus extended family, many friends, plus Andy and me) for the walk. 

Anyone who knows me well knows that the sibs in my family are very close. We lost our youngest sibling Claire when she was 25, and Steve is now the “baby” of our family.

Although the sibs are extremely close, we maintain a strong sibling rivalry and are very competitive. So of course I would like to compete with my sibs in fundraising! (Funds that I raise from my friends go to the overall STEVE STRONG team, so although I am "competing" with my sibs on this, the money all goes to our team efforts.)

My father, who died when we were teens and young adults, would be very proud of us. When Steve was in grade school, he brought home a report card with all As except for B- in “Effort.” To put it mildly, that did not go over well. Dad sat him down and said, “We are not a B- family.” He probably had other words but those were lost to time. (Mom probably comforted Steve because he was her "most beautiful baby" and one of her favorites.)

In addition to competing with my sibs to raise funds from others, I want to ensure that our STEVE STRONG team gets an A+ in “Effort” to make it one of the top fundraising teams in Puget Sound. During the week or so before the walk, I will match the total of the donations from my friends, up to $5000. So if you help me raise $5000, I will pony up another $5000, and PanCan will get $10,000. 

ABOUT PANCAN (PANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK)

PanCan's rating by Charity Navigator is 4 Star (96%). 

Here is their description from the Charity Navigator Site:

PanCAN's mission is to take bold action to improve the lives of everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer by advancing scientific research, building community, sharing knowledge, and advocating for patients. PanCAN was the first organization dedicated to fighting pancreatic cancer in a comprehensive way, and for more than two decades, we've grown a nationwide movement tackling the disease from all angles.

We fund transformative research, everything from early detection to innovative new treatment approaches. PanCAN Patient Services provides free, personal one-to-one support and we can find resources for any questions you have related to pancreatic cancer, like finding a specialist or a clinical trial. We work with thousands of grassroots advocates to urge Congress to increase federal research funding for pancreatic cancer, and we get results. We build community. Be part of our movement! You can volunteer locally, participate in a PurpleStride community event or host your own fundraiser.

MORE INFO FOR WALKERS- READ BEFORE REGISTERING!

• Remember that you do not have to pay anything to walk but you do need to register. 
• If you also want to donate, you can make an online donation of any amount over $5. If money is tight, I'd love to see you at the walk, because part of the reason I am inviting people is to raise their awareness of pancreatic cancer.
• If you really want a t-shirt you will need to donate or raise $50 on your own (see next bullet point). 
• Once you register, you will automatically be given your own fundraising page. This is what confused me. I wasn’t sure my donation was going to my family’s team (STEVE STRONG). But it was – PanCan just gives everyone the chance to raise funds on their own but also as part of a team. So that is why I decided to compete with my sibs! 
• You can set the personal fundraising goal as $0.00 if you want to walk for free. 
• You can just ignore your own fundraising page, or you can personalize it like I did and raise money yourself. 
• If you register for the walk via the JOIN MY TEAM link and follow the prompts to donate, the funds will get credited to STEVE STRONG's fundraising as well as your own fundraising (not mine). Please don't worry about that! I can keep track of how many friends I recruited to the cause and I will still match your donation. (If that bothers you, and you don't care about getting a t-shirt, register for the walk, but don't donate in the process. Then go back to my original page and hit DONATE or DONATE TO MARY - then your donation will get credited to my fundraising efforts. Please don't fret - it works for me either way.)

Click the JOIN MY TEAM button at the top of my page to get started.