The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center invites the community to its 9th Annual Roll & Stroll for Pancreas Cancer taking place on Sunday, Aug. 14.
Gerianne Holzman, chair of the Roll & Stroll for Pancreas Cancer, tells Madison365 that talks of the event began about 11 years ago within a group of people supporting pancreas cancer patients in Madison that is now known as the Pancreas Cancer Task Force.
“We all had supported the purple stride which is put on by the Pancreas cancer Action Network, which is a very good group… But what we realized was that none of the money that purple stride was raising was coming back here to support our research right here at Carbone,” says Holzman, “None of it was coming to our local patients so we decided to create a fundraiser and have all the funds stay local.”
This lead to the creation of Roll & Stroll, an event created to support pancreatic cancer patients and research efforts at the Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center. At the event, participants are able to choose to fund raise through different options, including a 50K, 25K, or 5K bike ride, as well as a two-mile “roll and stroll” open to walkers, scooters, wheelchairs, skateboards and dogs. Guests can also expect music, raffles, games, food and a sense of community that is important to the events efforts.
9th Annual Roll & Stroll for Pancreas Cancer has a $100,000 fundraising goal which will be used to continue to help researchers move the needle on treatment and care for pancreas cancer patients.
According to an interview from UW Health News Media with Dr. Jeremy Kratz, a GI medical oncologist at the cancer center, states, “Every cancer is serious, but pancreas cancer is one that has, unfortunately, a very poor clinical outcome.
“What I mean to say is that this is a cancer type that has implications, both in survival, but also in quality of life,” continues Dr. Kratz. “I think that so oftentimes, caregivers and families and patients are in isolation, they’re checking a box of, I’m getting to this appointment, or, you know, I’m scheduling this scan, and I’m going to make sure that I’m at that particular visit. This [the Roll & Stroll], you know, hopefully provides an opportunity for individuals to come together and celebrate just the remarkable journeys that our patients have”
Asides from the annual Roll & Stroll, the Pancreas Cancer Task Force, comprised of patients, family, friends, and community leaders, also works on other initiatives to support pancreatic cancer patients, such as creating comfort tote bags for patients and working towards their 10 year goal of raising $10 million to support basic “pilot” research projects.
“Pancreas cancer does not have a lot of voices to speak uo as breast cancer does,” explains Holzman, “And they’re [pancreas cancer patients] not all here to tell their story. So we have to do it for them, and spread the word as to what a deadly disease this is.”
For more information on the event and how to register, visit the Roll & Stroll event website.
