Star Trek Stars Launch Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer

Star Trek veterans Jonathan Frakes, Kitty Swink, and Armin Shimerman are coming together as part of PurpleStride’s campaign to combat pancreatic cancer. The trio are offering fans who support their campaign page before May 1 to win a 30-minute Zoom call with them. The prize isn’t a random drawing but a reward given to the person who does the most fundraising. It’s like most charity runs — you don’t have to personally donate, but collect pledges from others on behalf of the Trek team. The contest ends at midnight PST on May 1, with the PurpleStride event itself taking place later that day.

As with most charity events over the last year, PurpleStride is an all-digital affair in 2021, allowing for people from all over the country to more easily take part. That’s part of the motivation for bringing an all-star team together to try and raise funds for a good cause.

“A better world, a brighter future,” the campaign page reads. “No disease or suffering. Limitless possibility. Hope. These were all part of Gene Roddenberry’s vision of Star Trek. They also run parallel to PanCAN’s vision — to create a world in which every patient with pancreatic cancer will thrive.”

“No one believes in science and hope for the future more than Star Trek fans, and we invite everyone who can to be part of our PurpleStride LA team,” the page adds. “Let’s get the pancreatic cancer survival rate way beyond 10%. Let’s make it so.”

Shimerman played the fan-favorite character of Quark in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. His real-life wife, Swink, played the Bajoran Minister Rozahn in a pair of episodes of the same series. Frakes, of course, is famous for the role of Commander William T. Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in four Star Trek films. He also appeared as Riker in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (as an Okudagram only), Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. He also serves as a director on numerous Star Trek episodes and two feature films.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s (PanCAN) PurpleStride is a year-round national movement that funds life-changing programs and services to accelerate progress for pancreatic cancer patients. At nearly 60 PurpleStride events in communities nationwide, pancreatic cancer survivors, families, caregivers, researchers and supporters passionate about changing the future of pancreatic cancer come together to celebrate and honor everyone affected by the disease.