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Monroeville teen raises awareness of pancreatic cancer
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Logan Robinson, 13, holds a photo of her father, R.J., who died from pancreatic cancer. She will pour purple dye into the fountain at Levin Furniture in Monroeville at 12:30 p.m. today to raise awareness of the disease.
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A Monroeville teen is making a splash to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer.
Logan Robinson, 13, will pour purple dye into the fountain at Levin Furniture in Monroeville at 12:30 p.m. today to note the start of National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month. Purple is the signature color used to bring awareness to the disease.
The store is hosting a ceremony during which Logan will talk about the disease, which claimed the life of her father, R.J. Robinson, at age 33 in 2001.
The fountain's water will change from the pink hue that marked October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
"I think people should wear purple to get the word spread," said Logan, a student at Mother of Sorrows School in Murrysville. "Whenever people found out about breast cancer and raised awareness, that's how all the funding for research got started."
Logan came up with the fountain concept and asked a sales associate at the furniture store on Route 22 if he thought it would work.
Her mother, Sandi Robinson, suggested a more aggressive course of action.
"You have to find out who the CEO is and write an email," Ms. Robinson told her daughter.
And so Logan made contact with Robert Levin, company president of the Levin chain, who promptly said yes.
"I never even knew she wrote the email," Ms. Robinson said. "She did all this on her own. Now she feels like she has a voice. It just makes me want to cry."
Mr. Levin said the company has a history of supporting community organizations, and that Logan's request was particularly impressive.
"We loved the fact that it was something that was suggested by a young person," he said. "It shows you that with a good idea, it doesn't matter how young or old you are."
Once the company agreed, the Robinsons posted the news on Facebook.
"When we got up the next morning, there were 97 comments and there had to have been at least 40 saying things like, 'My grandmother died of that,' " Ms. Robinson said. "When I saw how many people had lost somebody from that, it overwhelms."
Pancreatic cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Its death rate is the only one among the top five that did not decline significantly in a study period between 1999 and 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For more: www.pancreaticcancerjourney.com.
First Published November 1, 2012 5:11 am
