Charlotte PurpleStride Chair Laurie Allen spoke with Community Engagement Senior Specialist Paula Mukherjee about her personal connection to PanCAN’s mission and plans for PanCAN PurpleStride 2025. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Paula: How did you first find PanCAN?

Laurie: My dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2016. I had never heard of it before. He passed away in March 2017. My family found PanCAN a week or so after he passed.

My sister heard that there was going to be a PanCAN meeting in Charlotte. I didn’t know what it was going to be about, but I showed up and found out it was a PurpleStride planning meeting.

Paula: How was your experience attending PurpleStride Charlotte for the first time?

Laurie: I enjoyed it! It was a wonderful event and an opportunity to connect with others who have been affected by pancreatic cancer and see the survivors still fighting the disease.

We saw my dad’s doctor there, and he remembered my family and called us by name.

Paula: What does PurpleStride planning with the PurpleStride Committee look like?

Laurie: We meet once a month leading up to event day. Before the new year, these meetings are virtual. Starting in January, we switch to in-person meetings. During the pandemic, these planning meetings were all virtual, but in-person meetings just feel more personal to me and it’s easier to see if something is on someone’s mind.

Paula: What are your favorite PurpleStride moments?

Laurie: Seeing everyone in purple. We call survivors up on stage; that’s an impactful moment.

Paula: Have you found that your volunteers and PurpleStride participants are mostly concentrated in the Charlotte area or are they from the broader region?

Laurie: Both. We did a mapping activity to see where PurpleStride participants come from. There is heavy concentration in Charlotte, but many participants come from outside the city and from other states as well.

Paula: What drew you to the role of PurpleStride Chair?

Laurie: I was the Event Experience Chair in 2018 – 2019. After 12 years of volunteering, the PurpleStride Chair stepped down and I was next in line. I enjoy planning events, so I happily took on the role of PurpleStride Chair.

Paula: What are your hopes for the future of the Charlotte Affiliate?

Laurie: I would like to grow the affiliate and make it more active. I want us to host more events and do more tabling at community events to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer and PanCAN.

Paula: In addition to being PurpleStride Chair, you're also the Team Captain for your PurpleStride team, Teeny's Mustang Gang. What's the inspiration behind your team's name?

Laurie: The team’s name was either going to be Teeny's All Stars or Teeny's Mustang Gang.

The first option was because my dad, Teeny, was a Chuck Taylor fan. The only shoes he wore were white, high top Chuck Taylor All-Stars. The second option was because my dad always wanted a Mustang. A year before his diagnosis, he finally bought one.

I ran the name options past my family, and we decided to go with Teeny’s Mustang Gang.

Paula: What keeps you busy outside of PanCAN?

Laurie: I am a program assistant at the Small Business Center at Central Piedmont Community College. I’ve been in this role for about three years, and at the college for about 12 years.

At the Small Business Center, we teach business owners and entrepreneurs how to start and grow their businesses. I enjoy connecting with them and seeing how the ideas that people come up with turn into businesses.

I decided to go back to school and pursue my associate and bachelor's degrees. This is my last semester in my associate degree program and then I’ll transfer somewhere for my bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Paula: What message do you have for other people who like you have been impacted by pancreatic cancer?

Laurie: Become involved with the PanCAN affiliate closest to you. You don't have to be a leadership volunteer in a chair role. We need volunteers to help us plan events and bring awareness to our communities.

Volunteering is a great way to channel your grief and turn it into passion.