One hundred thirty participants and 22 teams from the Beckley 2024 Walk to End Alzheimer’s enthusiastically walked outside the Raleigh County Convention Center to end Alzheimer’s disease.
They raised more than $25,000 of a $45,000 goal.
The Mountain State has 38,000 people 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s. West Virginia is known to be especially vulnerable to the condition because of its aging population and multiple higher risk factors.
“It’s so important to have these walks because we have all been affected as a community, as maybe a family member, a neighbor, a loved one, has been affected by Alzheimer’s,” said Kelly Elkins, from the event’s steering committee.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, we’re fighting for a different future, for families facing the disease, for more time and treatments. And we’re closer than ever to stopping this insidious condition.
The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is a great day of fellowship to get out and be with people who may have gone through the same struggles losing someone to the disease.
“We walk for my mom, she passed away with Alzheimer’s,” longtime walker David Sparks said. “It’s just to help support Alzheimer’s disease. Hopefully, they’ll find a cure.”
The walk has been going on for years to raise awareness and find a cure because Alzheimer’s doesn’t discriminate. It’s Spencer Hawkins’ first time volunteering there.
“Anyone can get it so it’s important to show our support for not only the foundation that’s gonna help fund the research; also the people that are going through it currently,” said the first-time volunteer and certified nursing assistant.
It’s personal for Elkins, who’s honoring someone she lost this year to the disease.
“A friend, a mentor, (who) hired me when I had one of my very first jobs,” she said. “So it’s wonderful to remember him and the legacy that he lived.”
Whatever your reason for participating in the walk, you can show your support with a colorful flower.
The Promise Garden flowers represent the diverse motivations of the walkers.
Blue – for someone with Alzheimer’s/or dementia
Yellow – you’re supporting someone with Alzheimer’s/or dementia
Purple – you lost someone with Alzheimer’s/or dementia.
I wore orange to support the cause and vision of a world without Alzheimer’s.
TO LEARN MORE
https://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=18039&pg=entry
