In-person Walk to End Alzheimer’s to return
Leslie Woodfill sets out the pinwheels used to recognize Alzheimer’s patients at the 2020 Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
File photo
MOSES LAKE — Online registration is open for the annual Columbia Basin Walk to End Alzheimer’s, scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Moses Lake High School, 803 E. Sharon Ave.
The walk is sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association, and is designed to raise money for, and raise awareness of, Alzheimer’s and related dementia diseases and how they affect patients and families.
Participants can attend in person or will have the option to watch the opening ceremony and walk in their neighborhoods. Carrie McBride, director of marketing and communication for the Alzheimer’s Association, wrote in a press release organizers hope to raise $44,000.
In-person walkers will assemble at MLHS, with information booths and in-person registration opening at 11:30 a.m. Registration is free, but a donation is asked of participants.
The event starts with an opening ceremony, after which walkers take to the street. People participating in the virtual walk can access a prerecorded opening ceremony online. The ceremony is held in memory of Alzheimer’s patients, and to recognize people fighting the disease, their families and caregivers.
Participants walk 1.5 miles down Pioneer Way and loop back to MLHS. Walkers carry flower-petal pinwheels in different colors, signifying how they have been affected by the disease.
A portion of the money raised goes back into the local communities. Jordan Hunter, manager for walk events in Washington, wrote in an email the Alzheimer’s Association has a 24-hour helpline, as well as support groups for unpaid caregivers, family members of Alzheimer’s patients and people suffering from mild memory loss. The association also provides educational opportunities for family members caring for dementia patients, medical professionals and people with mild memory loss.
Money raised from the walk also goes to research for fighting Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, Hunter wrote.
Registration is open until the walk starts. People who want to register in advance can do that online at www.alz.org/walk, or by calling 800-272-3900.