The upcoming Walk to End Alzheimer’s will take place in downtown Raleigh in a couple of weeks, and event organizers have set a lofty fundraising goal – $460,000. The event is free, but Lisa Roberts, executive director of the Eastern North Carolina Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, hopes that the wider community will come together to donate to the cause.
The walk is centered around Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh and is the second largest in the state for the Alzheimer’s Association, Roberts said. There are 17 walks planned across the state, just a handful of the more than 600 that will take place across the country – all to support research, outreach and education surrounding Alzheimer’s and related dementia. The overall state goal is $1.3 million.
Check-in begins at 9 a.m. and the walk will commence following a welcome at 10 a.m.
Roberts said there will be plenty to do for those who want to show their support in ways other than walking the approximately 1-mile route around the State Capitol building.
Halifax Mall will have live music, a DJ, a Kid Zone and more for the public to enjoy.
The money that the walk raises “allows us to increase our research footprint, provide care and support – free or at nominal cost – to all those impacted” by Alzheimer’s.
Each walk that the Alzheimer’s Association sponsors has a special “promise garden ceremony,” Roberts said. Participants hold flowers of a particular color – depending on how their lives have been touched by Alzheimer’s or related dementia disorder.
“It’s a way to identify your connection,” she said, whether you’re a caregiver, someone with a personal connection or a supporter.
Supporters like Roberts, who lost her own mother to the disease, envision a world without Alzheimer’s.
A lot of money goes into research across the globe in search of a cure or new treatment for Alzheimer’s and dementia, Roberts said. According to her statistics, there are more than 180,000 people across North Carolina who are living with Alzheimer’s or related dementia. “Those folks have over 360,000 family and friends who are providing care,” she said. For that reason, it’s important to have money for programs that support the caregivers, too.
To register for the Oct. 7 walk, visit alz.org/walk or call 800-272.3900.
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