Vigil to be Held for Pancreatic Cancer Victims

Middlesex County residents will be holding a Vigil of Hope Sunday night for victims and survivors of pancreatic cancer.

PanCAN - the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network - will be hosting a PurpleLight National Vigil for Hope (purplelight.org) to honor those who have fought pancreatic cancer and to celebrate the survivors, while raising community awareness about the devastating disease.  

The event, which will be held from 7 pm to 8 pm on September 30 at Papaianni
Park near the Edison Municipal Complex, is among 60 PurpleLight vigils taking place across the country. The group expects thousands to turn out in honor of a loved one or friend.

“We are proud to once again join communities across the country for the Second Annual PurpleLight National Vigil of Hope to turn the country purple,” stated Affiliate Co-Coordinator Danielle Zepp in a statement. “Many of us in the community have been touched by this insidious disease.

"The vigil gives us the opportunity to come together to gain both comfort and encouragement from one another while drawing attention to pancreatic cancer.”

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States and is the only major cancer with a five-year survival rate of just six percent.  This year, nearly 44,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and more than 37,000 will die from the disease. In fact, 74 percent of patients die within the first year of diagnosis. There are no early detection
methods and few effective treatment options exist.

Edison Mayor Antonia Ricigliano is expected at the event. Organizers said the mayor lost a family member to the disease.

“We will be reading the names of those we have lost to pancreatic
cancer and those who are survivors. Families and friends in attendance
will be asked to stand, while illuminating their purple glow stick, at
the time their loved one’s name is read," Northern New Jersey Affiliate Event Coordinator Stephanie Blash said.

This community event planned entirely by local volunteers.To register please visit purplelight.org.  To learn more about the Pancreatic Cancer Action
Network and the Northern New Jersey Affiliate, visit www.pancan.org.

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