Above / Local residents joined the Alzheimer’s Association to honor individuals who live with Alzheimer’s and dementia by heightening awareness with tiny blue forget-me-nots.
June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month. And since the beginning of the month, planters of forget-me-nots have been arranged at various locations around Naperville as reminders to join individuals worldwide to take the Purple Pledge. Use your brains to fight Alzheimer’s Disease and Progressive Dementia!
The Alzheimer’s Association also is promoting “#GoPurple and wear purple” on Mon., June 20, 2016, as part of The Longest Day, an international day of action to honor those facing Alzheimer’s.
The Longest Day is a sunrise-to-sunset team event to raise awareness and funds “to fuel the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer’s Association,” organizers said.
Held annually on the summer solstice, the clock is ticking. The duration of this sunrise-to-sunset event symbolizes the challenging journey of all individuals living with the disease and their caregivers.
Alzheimer’s disease is the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.
Since sunrise at 5:18AM, thousands of individuals have been completing approximately 16 hours of activity (ranging from running, cooking and knitting to playing cards) to recognize those living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers.
Participants in The Longest Day are joining a global conversation about Alzheimer’s disease, the brain and other dementias as part of Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month.
Sunset is 8:29PM.
Worldwide, there are at least 46 million people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias and it is the nation’s sixth leading cause of death. More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, including more than 220,000 Illinois residents, and this number is estimated to grow to as many as 16 million by year 2050. Additionally, there are more than 15 million caregivers, according to the Alzheimer’s Association 2016 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report.
Wear purple. Heighten awareness to help fund research that will end this awful disease.
For more information about Alzheimer’s disease, visit the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org.
Looking ahead at local events
The Rotary Club of Naperville Downtown will host a program about Alzheimer’s and dementia during its weekly meeting at 4:44PM on Wed., Aug. 24, 2016, at Hugo’s Frog Pond in the Main Street Promenade. Hadi Finerty from the Alzheimer’s Association will present the program, “Know the 10 Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease.”
The public is welcome to attend.
For information about a Rotary initiative highlighted in the April 2015 Rotarian Magazine titled “Slow Fade, New Hope in the Fight to Stop Alzheimer’s,” click here.
Walk to End Alzheimer’s-Naperville is Sept. 18, 2016
In addition, the Walk to End Alzheimer’s-Naperville is slated for Sun., Sept. 18, 2016, at North Central College Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium, 455 South Brainard Street, Naperville, IL 60540. Check-in begins at 8:30AM, followed by the ceremony at 9:30AM. The 3-Mile Walk begins at 10AM. For info, visit www.act.alz.org.
