Star Trek Actors Team Up Again to Fight Pancreatic Cancer

The "Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer" Team

FEBRUARY 15, 2023 – Following up on recent efforts to raise funds and join in the fight against pancreatic cancer, Jonathan Frakes, Armin Shimerman, and Kitty Swink are teaming up again for another PanCAN PurpleStride walk to end the disease.

According to a press release, their team, Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer, is calling on their fans and everyone across the country to join them in the fight. PanCAN PurpleStride is the number one way PanCAN, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, raises funds to fuel its mission, and the dollars raised change the lives of people facing pancreatic cancer and advance progress against the disease.

This is the third year in a row that Frakes, Shimerman, and Swink have participated in PanCAN PurpleStride. The mission for the team is personal – Frakes lost his brother, Daniel, to the disease over 20 years ago, and Kitty Swink, Shimerman’s wife, is a 19-year pancreatic cancer survivor. John Billingsley is also joining the team this year. He lost his mother to pancreatic cancer following just a three-month battle. The team will leverage the power of their collective voice, encouraging their fans across the nation to show support and help others “live long and prosper.”

“As a 19-year survivor, I know how lucky I am,” said Swink. “I feel it is my job, my honor, to help anyone I can to fight this disease. If we join together, we can make a difference and change the course of pancreatic cancer. I don’t know any group of people that is more generous and dedicated to hope and the future than the Star Trek family. I am optimistic we can unite to create a better future. Make it so.”

Shimerman added, “My goal in getting involved with PanCAN by starting team Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer at PurpleStride Los Angeles is simple: I want to see the survival rate increase from where it is to 100%. No one should die of pancreatic cancer. No family should have to endure the loss of a loved one to this ghastly disease.”

According to PanCAN, the current five-year survival rate is 12%. Pancreatic cancer is currently the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S. and is on track to become the second leading cause.

City by city, supporters will walk the nation in solidarity on Saturday, April 29, 2023 to raise national awareness and much-needed funds for pancreatic cancer. This year's goal is to raise $19 million in nearly 60 communities nationwide. Approximately 70,000 participants are expected to come together in person, and anyone can register to participate for free.

To find and register for a PanCAN PurpleStride event in your community, visit PurpleStride. Those who are unable to attend an event locally can still participate by joining the nationwide event, PurpleStride USA, and registering for free. 

PanCAN funds life-saving research, providing personalized patient services and creating a community of supporters and volunteers. In the past two decades, PanCAN has invested $174 million in groundbreaking research.

For more information on the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and its urgent mission to save lives, visit pancan.org or follow PanCAN on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.