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Mindy Kaling, your official PanCAN PurpleStride ambassador, hasn’t found the perfect outfit to wear for PurpleStride yet, but a few things are certain, she said.
“There’s no way it doesn’t feature purple sequins or glitter! Or possibly a chic purple wig. Anything is possible!”
Anything certainly is possible at PanCAN PurpleStride, the ultimate event to end pancreatic cancer. And we’re so excited to be back together, in person, on one big day – Saturday, April 30, 2022.
Mindy, known for her acting, writing and producing, is taking steps to honor her mom, Swati, who passed away only eight months after being diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in 2012. During that time, “PanCAN was a real resource to my family,” Mindy said. To help bring more awareness to the disease, Mindy served as PanCAN’s ambassador during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November 2020, too.
“I miss my mother every day, so when I can do anything to help the fight against pancreatic cancer, I feel like I’m honoring her memory. I am so happy to be partnering with PanCAN and to participate in PurpleStride.”
This year’s PurpleStride is especially meaningful. Not only are we back in person after striding apart for the past two years, it’s also the first time that all 60 PurpleStride events will come together as one nation, with one goal, on the same big day to turn the country purple.
Mindy, like all of us, looks forward to being with other people again, “particularly those whose families know the battle and struggles of pancreatic cancer.”
That’s what makes PanCAN PurpleStride feel like a family reunion – an event that brings the pancreatic cancer community together. No one can relate to your experience with pancreatic cancer more than someone else who has also been there.
“I am always excited to meet people who have been through the same thing as me and have the same will and drive to help end this disease,” Mindy said. And the fact that PurpleStride is the number-one way PanCAN raises funds to end pancreatic cancer – well that’s just the purple sprinkles on top.
PanCAN PurpleStride events are full of characters: the doctor who wears a head-to-toe purple business suit every year; the team who all dons matching tutus; the Star Trek fans supporting their favorite cast members. We asked Mindy: Who is the number-one person you have written for that you think would have the most PurpleStride spirit?
“This might seem like an unexpected answer,” she said, “but I think Michael Scott from ‘The Office’ would have the most PurpleStride spirit. He didn’t have an easy life, but he always managed to make things fun at work, even when people didn’t seem interested.
“He would definitely commit to an awesome purple outfit. The only thing I’d worry about is that Michael might care so much about ‘winning’ PurpleStride, he would run too hard and pass out. In fact, Michael Scott might have just a little too much PanCAN PurpleStride spirit.”
Michael Scott may be on to something though, because when you register and fundraise for PanCAN PurpleStride, we’re all winners. After all, PurpleStride is a celebration.
“There is so much sadness associated with this disease, so to be able to share PurpleStride day with other people makes things a little lighter,” Mindy said.
And if lighter means putting on purple sequins or glitter, or even possibly a chic purple wig for PurpleStride, bring it on.
Remember, at PanCAN PurpleStride, with Mindy as our ambassador and you there, anything is possible.
