September 5, 2023 • 14 mins
Maria Fundora is owner of the popular Casa Nuova Italian restaurant in Alpharetta, Ga and founder of Purple Pansies,one of the nationa's largest organizations supporting research at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, or TGen, in Phoenix, Arizona. They also gives financial support to families struggling due to pancreatic cancer, as well as scholarships to students who have lost a parent or guardian to the disease.
The Pillars of Hope Illumination Gala, Purple Pansies largest fundraiser, will be September 10, 2023 at a new location, Astro Celebrations in Cumming.
Get tickets here - Purple Pansies | Powered By GiveSmart
The Pillars of Hope Illumination Gala, Purple Pansies largest fundraiser, will be September 10, 2023 at a new location, Astro Celebrations in Cumming.
Get tickets here - Purple Pansies | Powered By GiveSmart
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It's Auntie Ward. Thank you somuch for checking out my podcast. Today.
I am joined by a truly inspirationallady today who is on a mission
to find a cure for pancreas cancer. She is an incredible human being inside
and out. I'm so honored tocall her my friend, Maria Vonda.
(00:21):
How fabulous did I roll my rsproperly? You absolutely rolled your heart,
Maria. I'm so happy to behere with you. We're actually just outside
of Casanova Restaurant here in Alpharetta.We're right next door, so it's a
little quieter because you guys were gettingready to open today. Yeah, we
open at four o'clock for Wine MineDay, so this is a much better
(00:42):
spot for us. We're backstage atthe at the Corking Glass Store, so
yeah, I'm surrounded by delicious wineand smelling delicious Italian food. I don't
know if I'm gonna make it outof here. We'll feed you. It's
the only reason I'm doing the podcast. I'm just there is a higher,
bigger, better cause, and thatis your Pillars of Hope Gala that is
(01:04):
coming up for Purple Pansies. I'mso excited. It is our fourteenth gala
and our message this year it's calledIllumination. Where there is darkness, there's
definitely always light to give people hopethat are fighting this horrific disease. So
(01:25):
we're very excited. September tenth Sundayat Astro Celebrations this year. Oh wow,
a new location, new location,brand new to Forsyth County. It's
a gorgeous venue, brand new.We are ready to roll. And purple
is the color. Yes, purpleis the color, and I want you
to explain that in just a bithere. But first of all, just
(01:48):
explain to everyone how Purple Pansies,this incredible organization that you founded that has
helped so many families that have beenaffected by pancreas cancer as well as helping
to cure How did this all getstarted? Actually, this year's gala is
based on how I started. Becauseif you look at the name Illumination and
(02:10):
you look behind it, it meansIlluminata, which was my mother's name,
and that's how Purple Pansies got started. I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer
in two thousand and seven. Shewas diagnosed May twenty feet and died on
September six which is why I hostthe gala in September to continue to remember
(02:34):
her memory. So that's how itstarted. It was so horrific for my
family that I said, oh mygod, I've got to do something to
help other families not go through whatI just went through. And that's how
it started Grassroots organization. We weregrassroots from two thousand and nine till twenty
(02:54):
seventeen where we became a five Oone C three And I have not looked
back, just looking forward. Andyou have done so much over the years.
How much money have you guys raisedsince you started? Five million?
That's amazing and all this money inthese funds, the amount of lives that
you guys have helped change with PurplePansies is amazing. Can you expand a
(03:17):
little on that. Well, wedefinitely go to give, of course,
for research and clinical trials. Butthe two other areas are areas that it
touches the heart. One of themis to give scholarships of children of pancreatic
cancer patients who are impacted and they'rein need, so we provide scholarships.
(03:43):
This year we had almost twenty scholarshipsin twenty different states. We're very proud
of that. And then we giveemergency grants to people all over the United
States who apply who are struggling whenthey're diagnosed with pancreas cancer. It could
be for transportation, or it couldbe to help them with their medical bills,
or it could be to help thempay their rent or buy food.
(04:09):
It's really rewarding when people apply andyou see the impact that you're having a
direct impact. So those are theother areas besides the research and clinical trials
where the funding goes to. Well, and I know because I've met a
lot of the families that you havehelped, and I've learned a lot about
(04:31):
pancreas cancer from you, like Ididn't know a lot about it. We
all hear about breast cancer, wehear about brain we hear about other things.
Tell me a little about why thisparticular cancer is such a struggle right
now as far it doesn't have ahigh cure rate. Well, when I
started, the cure rate was onepercent. I'm proud to say that we
(04:56):
are now at about fourteen fifteen percents Bible rates, which is amazing.
I think that one of the itemsthat we don't talk about is awareness,
and that's One of the things thatPurple Pansies has tried to do is to
bring about more awareness where people getthe diagnosis and it's like, oh my
god, I'm going to die tomorrow, that there really is hope. They
(05:18):
just need the right medical and thehealthcare and all of that to be able
to help them. So awareness isextremely important. It's the third leading cause
of cancer. The National Institute ofHealth says in the next five years it's
going to be the second leading causeof cancer. So it's something that definitely
(05:40):
it should be out there for peopleto know and what to do. There
are blood tests now that you canget that help you screen which are not
standard of care, which is oneof the things that Purple Pansies is fighting
to be able to get out there, to make it the standard of care.
That you go for your physical andyou get this blood test and you
(06:01):
know if you might be able tothat you might carry the gene that produces
pancris cancer, and then if youtest positive, then you get a cat
scan and an MRI just to findout exactly where you are. With the
medicines that we have right now,I heard from one of the top leading
(06:21):
doctors of pancris cancer. That ifyou get stage at zero one or two,
with what the tools that we haveright now, your survival rate is
over eighty percent. How amazing,super chills. That is so amazing.
So that's why it's very important thatwe bring about more awareness. And I
(06:44):
can't thank you enough, Angie.What you're doing to help spread the word
really is amazing work. Thank you, thank you. But it's all about
you and the things that you guysdo at Purple Pansies. This is not
the only fundraiser. You have thegala coming up. You also do a
lot of things for the community.We have the event here actually at the
restaurant, which is like I livenear here. Everybody waits for the day
(07:08):
that you have the community event.Absolutely. We used to do it in
the summer, man, it wasso hot. We changed it two years
ago to do it in the spring. It's been the last two years,
even after COVID. This year wehad twelve hundred people attend, so it's
gone back to pre pandemic levels.Even more so the springtime is a little
(07:30):
bit more nicer to be outside,little breeze and having some great Italian food,
great family day. All right,I do want to talk about your
restaurant because okay, I want toshow my age here. So I have
been coming to Casanova since I wasin college, and I like, since
I could drive, other kids wantedto go to McDonald's. I came to
(07:54):
Casanova restaurant when I got my license. It's an amazing family restaurant. It
truly is a family restaurant here onHighway nine and Alfaretta. Tell me about
how that got started. Wow,A long, long story, right,
I've lived in Alfaretta since nineteen eightyseven, O that I married my husband,
Antonio Fendora, Chef. Antonio andour restaurants used to be in Buckhead.
(08:18):
We sold everything Olympic here nineteen ninetysix. His original restaurant, I
know if your listeners might know Alfredo'son Cheshire Bridge. He opened that in
nineteen seventy four. And when wesold everything in ninety six, we wanted
to go back to our roots likewe had done with Alfredo's, smaller restaurant,
(08:39):
very hands on, and just goback to being that you would walk
in and I would know that youlike a glass of red wine. Right,
that was really important. So alittle sign went up and in nineteen
ninety seven, and Tony and Isaid, hey, we're gonna We're gonna
try this. So we opened hereFebruary ninth of nineteen ninety eight. So
(09:01):
we are celebrating this year, ourtwenty fifth year. We used to drive
around the neighborhoods and say, doyou think there's enough people around here?
Not a problem now, thank god. And our children grew up with this,
which now my children are my businesspartners. But Pepa was ten and
(09:22):
Carrie was six years old and Alexwas one. Oh wow, so it
was Alex just graduated a couple ofyears ago, just graduated last year from
SKAD and peppin Katie are both GeorgiaTech grad So since Tony's passing, they
(09:43):
have just dived in and are nowmy business partners. It's really amazing that
we're able to continue the legacy ofwhat Casanova was first built on. Where
did these recipes come from that youhave? They're family recipes? Yes,
they are Tony's family recipes. Actually, when he first came to America,
(10:09):
he worked at a place called Angelo'sin New York City and they took him
in like he was part of theirown. We're talking nineteen sixty two,
So this kind of dates us alittle bit of area myself, but that's
where it started. Really traditional styleItalian, not that the new nouveaux Italian
(10:31):
is not good, but that's notwho we are. We are very traditional
in style. And uh, it'sjust soul food Italian soul food. Oh
god, I cannot even put intowords. Literally my mouth is watering just
thinking about it. It's amazing.And yet I'm listen. We missed Tony
so much. I know this isgonna be hard year again at the gala.
(10:54):
We had lost him just before itlast year, but I feel his
presence every time I'm in the restfor sure, like he's probably in the
kitchen going no, no, wealways say he's up with God. They're
cooking for the angel. Yeah,there you go. I believe it.
Well, tell me, let's getback to Pillars of Hope because this is
coming up on September tenth, hugeevent. You can buy tickets right yes,
(11:18):
you go to a Purple twenty threedot giftsmart dot com, or you
can go to Purple Pansies dot org. If you can't go and you want
to help us and donate to thecause. So I see you've got Dave
Price back as your speaker. Amazing, Oh my gosh. He is so
good from New York City. Aweatherman, he's the weatherman sometimes fills in
(11:41):
in the Today Show. Uh.And he lost his brother to pancreas cancer.
That's how he started on the journey, and like myself, he just
does whatever he can to bring aboutmore awareness and to be able to raise
more funding for the cause. Ilove this event because we girls get to
dress up and be all pretty,and then there's delicious food from Cosa Nova
(12:05):
there and wine and it's just afantastic event gathering the community together to help
this great cause. And then you'vegot auctions as well, right, oh
my god. Silent auction, liveauction, wine auction. We will take
your money anyway. It's a lotof fun. We have live music.
(12:30):
It's just it's a magical night.You just come out of there just with
so much hope, so positive.It really is. It's a magical.
It's a night of magic. Absolutely, it absolutely is. We'll get your
tickets today to join us for Pillarsof Hope on September the tenth. I
can't wait. It's so exact.Every year I try to buy something new
purple because I go so I betyou have a whole closet full of purple.
(12:56):
I do, Yeah, purple isthe color. Now I'm trying to
decide what I'm gonna wear. That'salways a struggle. But we just however
you you can come. We'd love, we'd love for y'all to join us
and and come celebrate life with us. And I'm so proud of you for
everything you've done for this cause,for all the families that are struggling with
(13:20):
pancras cancer. It's I don't know, you're such a crusader, and it's
just so awesome that you've started thisjust from your own pain and suffering and
so many lives that you've touched.We want to continue to do that.
I would love to be able tosee. I have two dreams that I'm
(13:41):
going to try to make capital okay, okay, I would love to see
in the month of November and aNFL team wearing purple just for the awareness
out there, very important, oron Delta flights in the month of November
like they do for breast cancer inOctober, to say Delta Airlines supports pancreas
(14:03):
cancer awareness. We are calling outthe Falcons and Delta right now and I'm
not afraid to do it. Okay, thank you, Great Josh let Day
those football players. It amazing,that would be amazing. Maria Fondura,
co owner of Casanova Restaurant now forOut of Georgia, founder of Purple Pansies.
(14:26):
Thank you for your time and forall the things you do for the
families that have been affected by pancreascancer. I know we're going to find
a cure someday and you're going tobe a big reason for that. So
thank you, thank you, Thankyou a hero. Thank you so much
for coming out and speaking with ustoday. God bless you always.
It's Auntie Ward. Thank you somuch for checking out my podcast. Today.
I am joined by a truly inspirationallady today who is on a mission
to find a cure for pancreas cancer. She is an incredible human being inside
and out. I'm so honored tocall her my friend, Maria Vonda.
(00:21):
How fabulous did I roll my rsproperly? You absolutely rolled your heart,
Maria. I'm so happy to behere with you. We're actually just outside
of Casanova Restaurant here in Alpharetta.We're right next door, so it's a
little quieter because you guys were gettingready to open today. Yeah, we
open at four o'clock for Wine MineDay, so this is a much better
(00:42):
spot for us. We're backstage atthe at the Corking Glass Store, so
yeah, I'm surrounded by delicious wineand smelling delicious Italian food. I don't
know if I'm gonna make it outof here. We'll feed you. It's
the only reason I'm doing the podcast. I'm just there is a higher,
bigger, better cause, and thatis your Pillars of Hope Gala that is
(01:04):
coming up for Purple Pansies. I'mso excited. It is our fourteenth gala
and our message this year it's calledIllumination. Where there is darkness, there's
definitely always light to give people hopethat are fighting this horrific disease. So
(01:25):
we're very excited. September tenth Sundayat Astro Celebrations this year. Oh wow,
a new location, new location,brand new to Forsyth County. It's
a gorgeous venue, brand new.We are ready to roll. And purple
is the color. Yes, purpleis the color, and I want you
to explain that in just a bithere. But first of all, just
(01:48):
explain to everyone how Purple Pansies,this incredible organization that you founded that has
helped so many families that have beenaffected by pancreas cancer as well as helping
to cure How did this all getstarted? Actually, this year's gala is
based on how I started. Becauseif you look at the name Illumination and
(02:10):
you look behind it, it meansIlluminata, which was my mother's name,
and that's how Purple Pansies got started. I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer
in two thousand and seven. Shewas diagnosed May twenty feet and died on
September six which is why I hostthe gala in September to continue to remember
(02:34):
her memory. So that's how itstarted. It was so horrific for my
family that I said, oh mygod, I've got to do something to
help other families not go through whatI just went through. And that's how
it started Grassroots organization. We weregrassroots from two thousand and nine till twenty
(02:54):
seventeen where we became a five Oone C three And I have not looked
back, just looking forward. Andyou have done so much over the years.
How much money have you guys raisedsince you started? Five million?
That's amazing and all this money inthese funds, the amount of lives that
you guys have helped change with PurplePansies is amazing. Can you expand a
(03:17):
little on that. Well, wedefinitely go to give, of course,
for research and clinical trials. Butthe two other areas are areas that it
touches the heart. One of themis to give scholarships of children of pancreatic
cancer patients who are impacted and they'rein need, so we provide scholarships.
(03:43):
This year we had almost twenty scholarshipsin twenty different states. We're very proud
of that. And then we giveemergency grants to people all over the United
States who apply who are struggling whenthey're diagnosed with pancreas cancer. It could
be for transportation, or it couldbe to help them with their medical bills,
or it could be to help thempay their rent or buy food.
(04:09):
It's really rewarding when people apply andyou see the impact that you're having a
direct impact. So those are theother areas besides the research and clinical trials
where the funding goes to. Well, and I know because I've met a
lot of the families that you havehelped, and I've learned a lot about
(04:31):
pancreas cancer from you, like Ididn't know a lot about it. We
all hear about breast cancer, wehear about brain we hear about other things.
Tell me a little about why thisparticular cancer is such a struggle right
now as far it doesn't have ahigh cure rate. Well, when I
started, the cure rate was onepercent. I'm proud to say that we
(04:56):
are now at about fourteen fifteen percents Bible rates, which is amazing.
I think that one of the itemsthat we don't talk about is awareness,
and that's One of the things thatPurple Pansies has tried to do is to
bring about more awareness where people getthe diagnosis and it's like, oh my
god, I'm going to die tomorrow, that there really is hope. They
(05:18):
just need the right medical and thehealthcare and all of that to be able
to help them. So awareness isextremely important. It's the third leading cause
of cancer. The National Institute ofHealth says in the next five years it's
going to be the second leading causeof cancer. So it's something that definitely
(05:40):
it should be out there for peopleto know and what to do. There
are blood tests now that you canget that help you screen which are not
standard of care, which is oneof the things that Purple Pansies is fighting
to be able to get out there, to make it the standard of care.
That you go for your physical andyou get this blood test and you
(06:01):
know if you might be able tothat you might carry the gene that produces
pancris cancer, and then if youtest positive, then you get a cat
scan and an MRI just to findout exactly where you are. With the
medicines that we have right now,I heard from one of the top leading
(06:21):
doctors of pancris cancer. That ifyou get stage at zero one or two,
with what the tools that we haveright now, your survival rate is
over eighty percent. How amazing,super chills. That is so amazing.
So that's why it's very important thatwe bring about more awareness. And I
(06:44):
can't thank you enough, Angie.What you're doing to help spread the word
really is amazing work. Thank you, thank you. But it's all about
you and the things that you guysdo at Purple Pansies. This is not
the only fundraiser. You have thegala coming up. You also do a
lot of things for the community.We have the event here actually at the
restaurant, which is like I livenear here. Everybody waits for the day
(07:08):
that you have the community event.Absolutely. We used to do it in
the summer, man, it wasso hot. We changed it two years
ago to do it in the spring. It's been the last two years,
even after COVID. This year wehad twelve hundred people attend, so it's
gone back to pre pandemic levels.Even more so the springtime is a little
(07:30):
bit more nicer to be outside,little breeze and having some great Italian food,
great family day. All right,I do want to talk about your
restaurant because okay, I want toshow my age here. So I have
been coming to Casanova since I wasin college, and I like, since
I could drive, other kids wantedto go to McDonald's. I came to
(07:54):
Casanova restaurant when I got my license. It's an amazing family restaurant. It
truly is a family restaurant here onHighway nine and Alfaretta. Tell me about
how that got started. Wow,A long, long story, right,
I've lived in Alfaretta since nineteen eightyseven, O that I married my husband,
Antonio Fendora, Chef. Antonio andour restaurants used to be in Buckhead.
(08:18):
We sold everything Olympic here nineteen ninetysix. His original restaurant, I
know if your listeners might know Alfredo'son Cheshire Bridge. He opened that in
nineteen seventy four. And when wesold everything in ninety six, we wanted
to go back to our roots likewe had done with Alfredo's, smaller restaurant,
(08:39):
very hands on, and just goback to being that you would walk
in and I would know that youlike a glass of red wine. Right,
that was really important. So alittle sign went up and in nineteen
ninety seven, and Tony and Isaid, hey, we're gonna We're gonna
try this. So we opened hereFebruary ninth of nineteen ninety eight. So
(09:01):
we are celebrating this year, ourtwenty fifth year. We used to drive
around the neighborhoods and say, doyou think there's enough people around here?
Not a problem now, thank god. And our children grew up with this,
which now my children are my businesspartners. But Pepa was ten and
(09:22):
Carrie was six years old and Alexwas one. Oh wow, so it
was Alex just graduated a couple ofyears ago, just graduated last year from
SKAD and peppin Katie are both GeorgiaTech grad So since Tony's passing, they
(09:43):
have just dived in and are nowmy business partners. It's really amazing that
we're able to continue the legacy ofwhat Casanova was first built on. Where
did these recipes come from that youhave? They're family recipes? Yes,
they are Tony's family recipes. Actually, when he first came to America,
(10:09):
he worked at a place called Angelo'sin New York City and they took him
in like he was part of theirown. We're talking nineteen sixty two,
So this kind of dates us alittle bit of area myself, but that's
where it started. Really traditional styleItalian, not that the new nouveaux Italian
(10:31):
is not good, but that's notwho we are. We are very traditional
in style. And uh, it'sjust soul food Italian soul food. Oh
god, I cannot even put intowords. Literally my mouth is watering just
thinking about it. It's amazing.And yet I'm listen. We missed Tony
so much. I know this isgonna be hard year again at the gala.
(10:54):
We had lost him just before itlast year, but I feel his
presence every time I'm in the restfor sure, like he's probably in the
kitchen going no, no, wealways say he's up with God. They're
cooking for the angel. Yeah,there you go. I believe it.
Well, tell me, let's getback to Pillars of Hope because this is
coming up on September tenth, hugeevent. You can buy tickets right yes,
(11:18):
you go to a Purple twenty threedot giftsmart dot com, or you
can go to Purple Pansies dot org. If you can't go and you want
to help us and donate to thecause. So I see you've got Dave
Price back as your speaker. Amazing, Oh my gosh. He is so
good from New York City. Aweatherman, he's the weatherman sometimes fills in
(11:41):
in the Today Show. Uh.And he lost his brother to pancreas cancer.
That's how he started on the journey, and like myself, he just
does whatever he can to bring aboutmore awareness and to be able to raise
more funding for the cause. Ilove this event because we girls get to
dress up and be all pretty,and then there's delicious food from Cosa Nova
(12:05):
there and wine and it's just afantastic event gathering the community together to help
this great cause. And then you'vegot auctions as well, right, oh
my god. Silent auction, liveauction, wine auction. We will take
your money anyway. It's a lotof fun. We have live music.
(12:30):
It's just it's a magical night.You just come out of there just with
so much hope, so positive.It really is. It's a magical.
It's a night of magic. Absolutely, it absolutely is. We'll get your
tickets today to join us for Pillarsof Hope on September the tenth. I
can't wait. It's so exact.Every year I try to buy something new
purple because I go so I betyou have a whole closet full of purple.
(12:56):
I do, Yeah, purple isthe color. Now I'm trying to
decide what I'm gonna wear. That'salways a struggle. But we just however
you you can come. We'd love, we'd love for y'all to join us
and and come celebrate life with us. And I'm so proud of you for
everything you've done for this cause,for all the families that are struggling with
(13:20):
pancras cancer. It's I don't know, you're such a crusader, and it's
just so awesome that you've started thisjust from your own pain and suffering and
so many lives that you've touched.We want to continue to do that.
I would love to be able tosee. I have two dreams that I'm
(13:41):
going to try to make capital okay, okay, I would love to see
in the month of November and aNFL team wearing purple just for the awareness
out there, very important, oron Delta flights in the month of November
like they do for breast cancer inOctober, to say Delta Airlines supports pancreas
(14:03):
cancer awareness. We are calling outthe Falcons and Delta right now and I'm
not afraid to do it. Okay, thank you, Great Josh let Day
those football players. It amazing,that would be amazing. Maria Fondura,
co owner of Casanova Restaurant now forOut of Georgia, founder of Purple Pansies.
(14:26):
Thank you for your time and forall the things you do for the
families that have been affected by pancreascancer. I know we're going to find
a cure someday and you're going tobe a big reason for that. So
thank you, thank you, Thankyou a hero. Thank you so much
for coming out and speaking with ustoday. God bless you always.
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