Eventual winner of the Color Me Pink 5K Paint Pittston Pink race, Preston Klem, Dupont, leads the pack at the start of the race on Main Street, Pittston, Saturday morning.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Cancer fundraiser does well despite COVID-19; Gentlemen’s Dash smashes goal
The overall female winner of the Color Me Pink 5K race was Kimberly Drozda, Hanover Township, with a winning time of 21:09.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
In the 2021 Paint Pittston Pink Gentlemen’s Dash Tommy Wysokinski, left, is inched out by a pink tutu by winner Danny DePhillips.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Gentlemen’s Dash participant Patrick Kernan, a Times Leader reporter, points to the camera has he finished a respectable middle of the pack.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Tommy Wysokinski, left, receives an award for raising the most money for the Paint Pittston Pink Gentlemen’s Dash for 2021 with a total of $23,012.50. Presenting the award are the PPP co-founders, Barbara Sciandra, center, and Qiana Lehman.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
PITTSTON – Downtown Pittston was a beehive of Paint Pittston Pink (PPP) activity as the 2021 fundraising campaign came to an end Saturday with the Color Me Pink 5K Walk/Run and Gentlemen’s Dash.
The City of Pittston and surrounding towns rally behind PPP co-founders Barbara Sciandra and Qiana Lehman, making the PPP fundraising campaign the largest and most successful in Greater Pittston.
Prior to this year’s drive, PPP had raised $455,000 — and that was with a down year in 2020 due to the pandemic cancelling all events.
This year, the goal for the biggest of the fundraisers PPP holds is the Gentlemen’s Dash. A group of men dressed in pink heels races down Main Street to crown a winner. Participants raise money for the dash and the record holder, up until this year, has been Matt Latona with a total of $14,340. This year, four runners, Tom Campenni, Jeff Piazza, Tommy Wysokinski, and Nick Morreale have all topped Latona’s record.
Wysokinski took home top honors this year by smashing the previous record by raising $23,012.50. The Gentlemen’s Dash goal of $100,000 for 2021 has been eclipsed with a total of $130,291.40.
Danny DePhillips was the winner of the Gentlemen’s Dash, by edging out Wysokinski at the finish line.
“We’ve had an overwhelming successful campaign this year despite COVID-19 and event cancellations,” Lehman said. “The community really came out to support us and we’re really excited about it.
Despite PPP having to cancel four of the 10 scheduled events this year due to COVID, Lehman said the 2021 campaign may be a record year for raising donations.
In a statement on PPP’s Facebook page, Sciandra said of the milestone, “Despite the craziness of this year with planning events, changing events, and canceling events we have still had an outstanding year and have set records right across the board. I’m so proud — of all of you — and to be a part of this community. I could not ask for a better group of people to call friends. Cheers on a job well done.”
Saturday’s event included a Catholic Mass at 9 a.m., the PPP 5K race at 11 a.m. followed by the Gentlemen’s Dash.
“Every year, I, personally go into these events with a mix of emotions,” Sciandra said via Facebook. “If you had asked me 10 years ago what I would be doing, major fundraising for a cancer nonprofit that I co-founded would not even have been a thought. Thank you for supporting our important cause and for believing in our mission.”
