Committee members, team captains and sponsors gathered at Regency Park last week for a kickoff event to energize their fundraising efforts in advance of the 19th annual Walk to Remember to benefit the Alzheimer and Parkinson Association of Indian River County. The event takes place Saturday, Nov. 12 at Riverside Park. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and the noncompetitive walk begins at 9 a.m.
“It’s all about getting out into the community and building awareness,” said Walk to Remember chairperson Eileen O’Donnell, who has served on the committee for 10 years, chairing it five times.
“It has attacked me personally, as far as family members. I lost my mother in 2015 to dementia, and I wouldn’t have made it through if I didn’t have that support,” said O’Donnell, referencing the free programs and services the local nonprofit offers to those affected by memory and motion disorders. “And then, of course, I’m in the home care industry so it all kind of ties in together.”
O’Donnell’s company, Coastal Concierge Services, is one of the event’s presenting sponsors, along with the Walter Borisenok Family Foundation, and Este and Charles Brashears, and leadership sponsor George E. Warren LLC.
Additionally, Regency Park stepped up in a big way, presenting a check for $5,000, hosting the lavish kickoff reception and putting together a team for the walk.
O’Donnell said the committee was reintroducing many of the fundraising techniques and ideas first used about 10 years ago, adding: “You can do anything to raise money and be a team.
People say, ‘I don’t have the ability to put a team together.’ Well, yeah, you do. You can do absolutely anything.”
Accompanied by costumed volunteers, Moreen Burkart, the VNA’s Music Therapy manager, who also coordinates music therapy classes at the Alzheimer and Parkinson Association’s Memory and Motion Center, sang a song she wrote to highlight just some of the ways teams could fundraise, such as bake sales, 50/50 raffles, cocktails for a cause, team sports and creative car washes.
“For the most part, most of the sponsors and most of the committee members have an event planned,” said O’Donnell. “Everybody’s putting something nice together.”
The event drew some 120 supporters, which she credited to building a committee with the ability to get the word out.
“The best part is, I’ve got some good oldie goldies that have been at my side, and we have a lot of new faces on the committee that are really anxious to learn and give. It’s all about community, too. When you look at it, everybody in this room has been affected one way or another.”
Peggy Cunningham, executive director of the Alzheimer and Parkinson Association, reiterated thanks to Regency Park and Harbor Chase for their “amazing hospitality and the delicious food.
They have done this for us in years past, and every year they just make it better and better.”
She also praised O’Donnell for leading the Walk to Remember committee, “the group that’s going to make this event really happen,” and her supportive staff.
“The reason you’re here is so that you can help support our programs, which are offered to all the families in Indian River County who are trying to manage the care of someone with dementia or someone who has a movement issue. I want to thank you. You are the reason that we can offer 40 programs free of charge to this county,” said Cunningham.
For more information, visit AlzPark.org.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
