When Dennis and Claire Bavaria returned from a vacation last year in Paris, she had a stomachache.

Claire Bavaria 

“It was pancreatic cancer. … It is a silent killer. She only last eight weeks,” said Dennis Bavaria of Mechanicsburg.

Claire, 62, died Dec. 16.

Bavaria said he knew nothing about the disease before his wife became ill.

“It was just devastating what we went through and I didn’t know anything about it,” he said.

A longtime basketball coach and fundraiser, Bavaria decided to use his expertise to help raise money for research. The event also has provided him with “grief therapy.”

On Sept. 6 the Claire Rose Bavaria Pancreatic Fundraiser will be held at a number of locations to benefit the Marc Lustgarten Pancreatic Cancer Foundation.

Locally, the event will be held 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at Our Lady of Lordes, 225 Salt Road in Enola. But, Bavaria said, “anyone can shoot at any place.”

Participants in the basketball foul-shooting contest will obtain sponsors who can make a donation per foul shot made. Participants will attempt 100 foul shots.

Bavaria said the event is being held at a number of locations including West Point, Loyola College, Bloomsburg University, York Catholic High School and Dallastown High School. The Cumberland Valley girls and boys basketball teams also will participate, Bavaria said.

Bavaria is the ninth-grade basketball coach at Cumberland Valley.

He said he chose the Lustgarten Foundation because 100 percent of donations go toward research.

“It is legit. It is recognized all over the country,” Bavaria said.

In addition to the foul-shooting contest, Joe’s OIP at 334 E. Penn Drive in Enola is donating $1 for each large pizza sold through early September.

For more information, contact Bavaria at 717-877-7762 or dbavaria@aol.com.