The Michigan Great Lakes Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, which is headquartered in the Clocktower Building in downtown Chelsea, is bringing its first Walk to End Alzheimer’s to town.
Chelsea becomes one of more than 600 communities nationwide to host a walk, which is cumulatively the largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s research. The Alzheimer’s Association raised $51.8 million from the walks in 2012.
The Chelsea Area Walk also invites residents of Dexter, Grass Lake, Manchester and Stockbridge to participate on Saturday, Oct. 5. The 1- and 2.8-mile walks begin at 9 a.m. behind the Clocktower Building at 310 N. Main Street.
Registration starts at 8 a.m.
Walk organizer Stephanie Barnhill said there were 176 walkers registered as of Friday evening, Sept. 20, and she is “confident we will meet, and exceed, our goal of 225 by walk day.”
The $21,424 raised at the same time is 79-percent of the walk’s fundraising goal of $27,000.
At week’s end, teams from Reinhart Realtors, Chelsea State Bank, United Methodist Retirement Communities and Silver Maples Retirement Community topped the “team honor roll” for donations raised. In fifth place was “For Jerry & Clara,” a group captained by Chelsea resident Rich Rezler and his mother, Shirley, in honor of his maternal grandparents.
“It’s awesome to see our team name listed there among the corporate groups. We’re a small team, but my grandma and grandpa were very loved,” said Rezler, who will walk with his parents, wife and three children. “Watching them suffer from Alzheimer’s was the most heart-breaking moments of my life, so we’re honored to do our small part to help end that terrible disease.”
According to the Alzeheimer’s Association, this disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only disease among the top 10 of that list without a way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression.
One in eight people in the country age 65 and older have the disease. Half of people age 85 and older are afflicted.
