by Gabrielle Carbonara, Juris Blog Contributor
For over 25 years, October has been National Breast Cancer
Awareness Month, raising awareness and educating people about breast
cancer. Around Duquesne’s campus, you
likely have seen pink ribbons and signs for relay events and if you have ever
strolled down Academic Walk, I’m sure you have seen the pink fountain. Here at the law school, students work hard throughout
the year to raise awareness and do as much fundraising as possible to help find
a cure.
A little over a year ago, a friend and fellow third-year law
student sadly lost his mother, Peggy Panucci, after her long battle with breast
cancer. A group of us rallied around him
and his family and helped create the foundation, Panucci’s Promise. Over the
last year, especially in October, a group of law students joined Panucci’s Promise, including the Woman’s Law Association and the Italian-American Society, and have
co-sponsored fundraising events ranging from lunchtime pizza and bake sales to musical
concerts, featuring some of Duquesne’s finest professors and students.
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| © Susan G. Komen for the Cure |
Panucci’s Promise
has recently teamed up with Yankee Candle for “Candles for a Cause,” donating
all the proceeds to the American Cancer Society for Panucci’s Promise Relay for Life team and has branched out into the
community to hold some events in the Southside.
In the Fall of 2011, Panucci’s
Promise, with the help of friends and family, sponsored an event at the
Blind Pig in the Southside. At the event, local bands, the Gunners and Mace
Ballard, put on a fabulous performance. More recently, Panucci’s Promise held a fundraising event at Carson City Saloon
and had some of the Panucci’s friends and family guest bartending and
collecting donations.
When it came time to decide where the proceeds of the fundraisers
would be donated, Panucci’s Promise
chose to work with Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC.
Peggy Panucci received treatment during her battle with breast cancer
there, and the cancer treatment was in need of updates and renovation. Last year, with the overwhelming help and
support of friends and family of Panucci’s
Promise, the foundation raised enough money to donate two brand-new chemotherapy
chairs to Magee-Womens, with the hope to donate even more this year.
If you want to get involved with the fundraising efforts of Panucci’s Promise at the law school,
check out Panucci’s Promise on
Facebook to find out about upcoming events.
