Team leaders, committee members and supporters gathered for a Wind Up Thursday Meet and Greet at the newly renamed Alzheimer and Parkinson Association Center for Memory and Motion last week, getting pumped up for the 11th Annual Walk to Remember. Eileen O’Donnell and Tiffany Tripson are co-chairing the event, scheduled to take place Saturday, Nov. 8 at Riverside Park in Vero Beach.
Attendees enjoyed a bountiful wine and hors d’oeuvre buffet, generously provided by Brennity at Vero Beach while listening to music from the Sophisticats and sharing fundraising and team building tips.
Explaining a special change to this year’s walk, Peggy Cunningham, Alzheimer and Parkinson Association of Indian River County executive director said, “Eileen and I presented the idea of having Memorial Island be part of the walk to the Veteran Memorial Island Sanctuary Advisory Committee – and they said yes! We were stunned, but we’re so excited. I think it’s clearly a connection that we should strengthen.”
Veterans have always been honored at the walks, which are held around Veterans Day, but she said this presents an opportunity to further develop the bond. Signage will remind participants to make the Memorial Island loop a muted part of the walk; offering quiet reflection to those who served.
“We said there should be an organic relationship between veterans and those with memory and movement disorders, because so many of our clients are veterans. And if you are a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, you have another 50 percent chance of developing Parkinson’s, according to research.”
The Alzheimer and Parkinson Association of Indian River County is an independent non-profit, not affiliated with any national organizations. Money raised at the Walk to Remember remains exclusively in Indian River County, helping to provide a host of programs and services, all at no cost, to local residents.
The association also offers Virtual Dementia Training as a way of helping caregivers and others to understand the vagaries associated with the disease.
“We just finished processing 87 Sheriff’s Department deputies. Our volunteers came in for four solid days,” said Cunningham, adding that members of the Vero Beach Police Department had previously gone through the program as well.
In addition to supporting those suffering from Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, there are also programs for individuals dealing with essential tremor or stroke, and the Project Lifesaver program has been extended to autistic children. Local services include memory screenings, support groups, movement, exercise and singing classes, counseling, art programs, training and education and respite care.
“Programs numbers are strong; we’re going to be even bigger next year,” said Cunningham, noting that attendance increased from 4,100 in 2011 to 11,100 in 2013.
O’Connell began as a volunteer with the Project Lifesaver program before chairing last year’s walk. After seeing the great job Tripson did organizing the Kids Zone last year, she drafted her as co-chair this time around. Both are in the healthcare industry; O’Connell at Douglas Health and Tripson at Nurse on Call.
“We were able to assemble and hand-pick a great committee to take it to the next level. We have a force to be reckoned with,” said O’Connell, adding that their fundraising goal is $65,000. “We don’t give people a chance to not support us. It’s a local cause. My new slogan is local takes care of local. We want to grab the locals and give them an opportunity to make a team. Every year we seem to overcome something and it gives us great strides.”
Pointing to imaginative baskets filled with forget-me-not flowers made by volunteers Sue Teague and Leah Schwibner, she adds, “This always chokes me up.”
People make a donation and can write the name of a loved one on a flower, which will all be “planted” in a colorful memory garden at the walk.
Teams can register as businesses or groups of friends, but individuals are always welcomed as well. Check-in begins at 7:30 a.m. the morning of the event, and walkers start off at 8:30 a.m. To participate, call 563-0505 or visit www.alzpark.org.
