Special event helps fight tragic disease

Published 5:00 am Thursday, September 21, 2000

BUDE — The 2000 Alzheimer’s Memory Walk will be held Saturday,Sept. 30, at the First Baptist Church, located on Highway 84here.

The Memory Walk is an effort to raise funds for nationalresearch and family support services in Mississippi.

“We are currently looking for teams, which can be composed ofbusiness co-workers or family members from all areas of SouthwestMississippi,” said Lucy Shell, executive director of the SouthwestBranch of the Alzheimer’s Branch Office and Community EducationDirector for the Franklin County Memorial Hospital Senior Care.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

“These teams can be made up of two or more members,” Shell said.”In our efforts to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association, weare asking that each walker raise at least $15, but we hope thateach walker would go over that limit and raise at least $100.”

“All donations of $30 and over will receive a Memory WalkT-shirt,” she said. “At the event, we will recognize the TopFundraising Team and the Top Individual Fund-raiser.”

“Every walker is encouraged to remember a loved one by creatinga special banner or T-shirt, or wear a button or photograph to leteveryone know why they are walking,” said Shell.

The Franklin County Memorial Hospital has been serving as branchoffice of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Middle Mississippi Chapterfor Southwest Mississippi since September 1999.

“We are hoping to serve the families and loved ones sufferingwith Alzheimer’s in the southwest corner of Mississippi by offeringan Alzheimer’s Library and Hotline,” said Shell.

“Our library contains quite a bit of useful information foranyone seeking information on Alzheimer’s. If they can’t drive toMeadville, they can contact me and explain what information theyneed and I will mail it to them,” she said.

The branch office has brochures, books, videos and a Speaker’sBureau on Alzheimer’s. There is also information on area supportgroups in the Southwest Mississippi area.

To register for the Memory Walk or for more information onAlzheimer’s, contact Lucy Shell at 384-8110 or 384-2211.