The 2018 running of the Paint Pittston Pink Gentlemen’s Dash is seen in this file photo. The organization is changing its name to Paint the Planet Pink and expanding to include new venues for its events.
Times Leader file photo
Organization rebranding as Paint the Planet Pink, will hold events in Luzerne, Lackawanna counties
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PITTSTON — One of the region’s most well known fundraising organizations is changing its name, as well as the venues for some of its signature events.
Paint Pittston Pink, which has raised more than $900,000 for cancer research and clinical trials over the past decade, will now be known as Paint the Planet Pink, according to a post on its Facebook page, which already has been rebranded.
Its roster of events for 2024 will be held at sites in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, with the popular 5K and Gentlemen’s Dash moving from Pittston to Scranton, according to a save-the-date calendar included with the post.
“We’re still PPP, an all-volunteer 501c3 organization whose roots remain strong in the Greater Pittston Area,” co-founder Barb Sciandra wrote in the post, which describes the changes as a “catchy new name, fun new logo, same important mission.”
“We are so energized to expand our footprint into additional municipalities,” Sciandra’s message added. “The research that we support here in Pennsylvania can impact the entire planet. Cancer knows no geographical boundaries and neither do we.”
The group also expects to hit another milestone in 2024, surpassing $1 million in donations, according to the post.
All of the proceeds raised by PPP are donated directly for research using the Paint Pittston Pink Fund at The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Sciandra co-founded Paint Pittston Pink with attorney Qiana Lehman in the wake of her own successful battle against breast cancer over a decade ago. She was diagnosed in 2012 at the age of 34.
In a 2021 interview with the Times Leader, Sciandra spoke about that battle and the group’s founding — as well as the return to live events following a hiatus in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her participation in a clinical trial as part of treatment was one of the factors which inspired Sciandra to begin fundraising.
“We felt that a lot of the money with some of these other organizations, it just goes to high-paid CEOs. We were looking for something more with volunteers where 100% of the money raised would go exactly where we want it to, so that’s why we decided to start our own 501c3 organization, and Paint Pittston Pink has kind of blossomed from there,” Sciandra said in the 2021 interview.
“We’re so appreciative of the outpouring of support,” she said.
The Times Leader Media Group has been a proud supporter of PPP events, with several staff members taking part in the Gentlemen’s Dash over the years.
The save-the-date calendar of events for 2024 is as follows:
• Aug. 16 – Paint the Green Pink golf tournanament, Wilkes-Barre Municipal Golf Course
• Sept. 15 – Inaugural Paint the Planet Pink pickleball tournament, Birchwood Racquet Club, Clarks Summit
• Sept. 21 – 5K and Gentlemen’s Dash, downtown Scranton
• Sept. 28 – Community awards, Charley Trippi Stadium at Pittston Area High School
• Sept. 29 – Purse bingo, St. Maria Goretti Banquet Hall, Laflin
• Sept. 30 – Paint PAZZO Pink
• Oct. 4 – Paint The Red Mill Pink
• Dec. 6 – It’s a Wonderful Life