The Ian G Thompson Foundation was set up in honor of Ian Thompson who died of pancreatic cancer in 2012. Its purpose is to work LOCALLY to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer and to raise money to support LOCAL pancreatic cancer researchers. Last year we tried hard to raise awareness by advertising our fundraisers. There were two fundraisers. Since Purple is the color that is used by the pancreatic cancer organizations and since we are in New Orleans we held the first annual Purple Pants Party (purple pants encouraged but not mandatory) to raise funds to support local pancreatic cancer research efforts. Ian was an architect and loved the visual arts. Therefore it seemed fitting that STBA, Ian’s old company, raised money by auctioning their own art work during the celebration, Art for Arts Sake. The money raised from both events was donated to the Bush Foundation that supports pancreatic research at Ochsner.

Our mission is first and foremost to get people talking about pancreatic cancer and to spread the information that there are LOCAL experts at LOCAL institutions who can treat this disease. So please access our web site and tell others about our website. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at igthompson.org for your Purple updates – we don’t send many but they all count. Secondly, on November 15, 2014 we will hold the second annual Purple Pants Party. We would love y’all: to come in bright Purple Pants and enjoy yourselves; to donate food/drinks; to donate auction items; to play music or to do anything else that will make it a notable and enjoyable event. We are very happy to accept financial donations at any time but please make a lot of noise about it and THINK LOCAL.