Stacey Schwartz has been an ambassador for Project Purple since 2018 and has used her love for fitness to raise money for pancreatic cancer. While fundraising for a Push/Pull workout at a local gym in Rhode Island, her mother told her that her grandmother had died from the disease. She also has two cousins who passed away from the disease, one as recent as last October.
Over the years, Stacey has participated and raised money for multiple fundraisers and events. Since starting out as a participant for the Push/Pull workout, she has raised nearly $15000 for pancreatic cancer research. She has held a wide variety of fundraisers such as NCAA Tournament squares, 50/50 raffles, trivia nights, Drag Night, and Shave Off November.
She is also running the NYC Marathon for Project Purple on November 3rd. Stacey has nothing but high praise for this organization and is grateful to be an ambassador for Project Purple.
“Project Purple means a lot to me,” Stacey said. “Since pancreatic cancer is close to my heart, I can’t say enough for what this organization does. Being an ambassador for them has been extremely rewarding, and I’ve made some great friends as well.”
Finding out she had family members who were affected by this disease and becoming an ambassador has changed Stacey’s outlook on life.
“I live every day to its fullest, like every day could be my last. Just knowing the scary stats about this disease makes me want to take extremely good care of myself,” she said. “Being healthy is one less risk factor for cancer. I never realized how many people pancreatic cancer affects until I joined as an ambassador. I never heard anyone talk about it. Now, I hear about a new case almost weekly. It’s taught me to be more compassionate.”
When asked what motivates her to continue raising awareness for this disease, Stacey says it’s her family and friends who have been affected by pancreatic cancer. She wants more people to become aware of how dangerous pancreatic cancer really is and believes the power of social media can spread awareness for pancreatic cancer to those who may not know how serious this disease is.
“The power of social media is astounding. Every time I post something, I can reach over 800 people on Facebook alone,” she said. “Adding CrossFit would to our network has also provided a whole new spectrum of people we can reach and spread awareness to. The more gyms that participate, the more awareness can be spread.”
Stacey has one message to those who are battling pancreatic cancer: never quit and stay positive.
“Never quit. The power of the mind is an amazing thing,” she said. “Staying positive and wanting to fight is the most important thing you can do.”
