“In perpetual motion” is how Mitchell and Nicholas Danzis describe their late mom Jo-Ann, and the annual Cork & Fork for a Cause held in her honor is just as lively as the person it seeks to remember.

The event, which features wine, craft beer and food tastings as well as a silent auction and live music, has quickly become an annual favorite. And, although the Jo-Ann Danzis Foundation is only three years old, its mission of raising money for pancreatic research has already surpassed co-founders Mitchell and Nicholas Danzis’ initial expectations with a total of $170,000 raised to date in support of pancreatic cancer research and the work of Angela Alistar, MD, at the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center. 

“My mother survived for three and a half years with pancreatic cancer, which is much longer than the average life expectancy of someone battling this disease,” says Mitchell Danzis, who adds that the care she received at the Simon Cancer Center was the same – if not better – than the around-the-clock private care they had paid for elsewhere. “It was the care she received here that helped extend the length and improve the quality of her life.”

To learn how you can help support ground-breaking pancreatic cancer care, visit our Ways to Give page or contact Lisa Duff, foundation gift officer. 

Photo: Mitchell Danzis, Jo-Ann Danzis Foundation Co-founder, and Bonnie Gannon, director of Corporate and Foundation Relations for the Foundation for Morristown Medical Center.