Welcome to the PanCAN PurpleStride Team Fundraising Page for the 501st Legion’s Empire City Garrison (ECG)!

The ECG is a chapter of the 501st Legion Costuming Group serving the New York City, Long Island and Hudson Valley areas. Our members portray the “Bad Guys” from the beloved franchise and spread the magic of Star Wars through volunteering at various charity events.

The ECG will be appearing at PanCAN PurpleStride, on Saturday, April 26. As part of our appearance, we have formed a team in the memory of relatives of our members whom we lost far too soon from pancreatic cancer - The Empire Strikes Back For Connie & Veronica.

We are raising money in their honor to fund the vital research that can discover new treatment options, provide free, personalized, one-on-one support through PanCAN Patient Services, and more. To achieve this, we’ve set an ambitious fundraising goal and would be profoundly grateful for your donation. Because the more money we raise, the bigger impact we make to help patients and families facing a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. A gift of any size will help!

Want to help in a bigger way? We’d love for you to join our team! Register for free by clicking the button at the top of this page. Raise $50 and you’ll receive an official PanCAN PurpleStride 2025 T-shirt!

Join the Empire's fight in honor of Connie and Veronica, and all those who are impacted by pancreatic cancer. Thank you for your support!

Connie’s Story

Connie was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer in 2015. For ten years, she bravely battled pancreatic cancer. A true warrior, Connie received the whipple surgery shortly after her diagnosis and then underwent arduous chemotherapy treatments for a decade. However, after a long, hard-fought fight, Connie sadly passed away from pancreatic cancer on March 21, 2025. Connie was a beloved wife, sister, mom, grandma, aunt and friend, and she is tremendously missed by all those who loved her. 

Connie is remembered for her kindness, her humor and her strength, despite her health struggles. Though her life was not always easy, she always remained generous and warm to others and never took herself too seriously. A devoted wife for forty-eight years and a loving mother to her three daughters, as well as her three son-in-laws and her grandson, Connie adored her family and often hosted large family gatherings to get everyone together. When her nieces and nephews were children, she doted on them and made sure to always bring them cookies. More recently, she showered her grandson Benny with affection and frequently brought him new clothes and, his favorite, chocolate. 

Connie enjoyed music and concerts, with Elton John being among her favorite artists. She had a passion for flowers and gardening, took pride in her cooking (especially her sauce, meatballs, pasta salad and lasagna) and loved all kinds of shopping, from department stores to garage sales, and prided herself on finding a good deal. She also had a calling to take in rescue dogs and was able to provide furever homes for six throughout her life.

However, one of Connie’s greatest joys in life was raising her daughters and watching them grow into successful women, and as a mother, she sacrificed immensely for them. She taught them how to navigate a world that can often be difficult and cruel with selflessness, honesty, resilience and compassion for others. Connie was and remains a hero to her daughters. 

Two of Connie’s daughters, Lisa and Laura, started their journey working with Star Wars charity costuming groups like ECG shortly after her diagnosis. Connie loved the work ECG did, and if she was younger and healthier, she would have gotten a costume and joined herself, even if she didn’t know much about Star Wars and would have been the first to confuse a TIE Pilot for Darth Vader. Connie got so much joy seeing and hearing about ECG’s work and came to support ECG’s community events in recent years. 

Veronica’s Story

Veronica Villanueva León was a beloved daughter, sister, wife, and cherished friend. She had an insatiable curiosity about the world and the universe, drawn to the stories that explored both. Her love for science fiction began with Star Trek, captivated by its vision of a future shaped by exploration, discovery, and hope. That passion deepened as she immersed herself in the works of her favorite writers—Ursula K. Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke.

At 15, she dragged her family to see Star Wars at the Astor Theatre in Times Square, sparking a love that lasted a lifetime. She passed her love for Star Wars on to her little sister, Coti, with whom she attended countless sci-fi conventions and saw every Star Wars film in theaters. That love for the galaxy far, far away continues in the family today—her brother-in-law, Danny Kelly, is a member of the ECG, and her sister is a dedicated volunteer, honoring Veronica’s passion for the stories and community she cherished.

Veronica was also a devoted reader of fantasy literature, introducing her younger siblings to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth and C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia—a legacy that continues today, as her nephew, Ariel, reads those books for the first time.

Beyond her passion for stories and imagination, Veronica was an attorney dedicated to labor law, human rights law, and election monitoring. She was a fierce advocate for justice, and her work reflected her deep commitment to making the world a better place.

Veronica is missed every day by her family and friends, but she remains present in their lives through the passions she shared so generously.

We love and miss you, Vear. We walk in your honor.