Team ScriptPro Goes the Extra Mile to Fight Pancreatic Cancer

For the second year in a row, ScriptPro partnered with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) for its annual PurpleStride 5K event. The day before race day, our Community Connection volunteers took on a variety of tasks including packet pickup, building the event space, and turning Kansas City’s Theis Park purple in preparation for the walk to end pancreatic cancer. On race day, many employees participated as part of ScriptPro’s Flagship team, taking home a top fundraising prize for raising over $15,000 for pancreatic cancer research and patient support.

As a volunteer for PanCAN and a ScriptPro employee, I’m so proud to be a part of both organizations. It is amazing the impact a dedicated group of volunteers can have, and it is fun to see staff from different departments coming together to accomplish tasks towards a singular goal. Jeff Dean, Software Systems Engineer, shared his experience, “The organizer tasked us with completing a balloon arch and turning it into a balloon ribbon. Sure, that sounds easy! Add some balloons, stand the arch up, twist it around, and whammo… a ribbon. It didn’t turn out to be quite that easy.

“We started the project by removing some burst balloons and finishing the inflated purple dressing of the 25-foot-long pole. Next step was to stand up the arch and twist it into the ribbon form. With the large arch over our heads it was as easy as twisting it this way, and then that way, and oh wait. Hold it here. Disconnect that there. Twist it again, or what if we fold it this way… or that. Hey! Don’t let it touch the ground. A few quiet moments… do you think it’d be okay if we only have a balloon arch?

“But we didn’t give up! After some confusion and discussion, we settled on a plan – and before we knew it, we had a giant purple ribbon. It was a fun way to contribute to the event. We put our heads together to solve a problem, and came out on the other side with something we were proud of.”

This story highlights the entrepreneurial spirt that lives within ScriptPro and is the heart of our company. There was a problem to be solved and a group of problem-solvers with the stick-to-it-iveness needed to see a project through.

It also demonstrates the power of our Community Connection program to bring employees together to serve the community. The team working on this project hadn’t ever worked together before, but now they share a common bond. The event would have gone on without the 12-foot purple balloon ribbon, but on event day it stood tall as a symbol of hope for the event participants and served as a backdrop for photo opportunities. We saw many pancreatic cancer Survivors and their families standing proudly in front of the ribbon.

PanCAN enthusiastically noted, “Having so many committed volunteers allowed time for more fun projects that make the event special for those impacted by this tough cancer. We look forward to working with the ScriptPro volunteers every year. They always come ready to work hard and make a huge impact with their commitment.” Team ScriptPro truly went the extra mile this year to Demand Better for pancreatic cancer outcomes.

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