Walking to help find a cure for Alzheimer's
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 25, 2015 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Participants in the 13th annual Duplin/Greene/Wayne County Alzheimer's Walk leave Cornerstone Commons on the start of the 1-mile walk Saturday morning.
Alzheimer's disease research does not command the attention nor the large amounts of money many other diseases receive.
That is why events like Saturday morning's 13th annual Duplin/Greene/Wayne County Alzheimer's Walk in downtown Goldsboro are so important, organizers said.
The goal was $35,000, but the final total was not available prior to press time Saturday.
All of the money stays local, stays in North Carolina, said Melannie Pate, assistant director for Alzheimer's NC.
But walking in honor or memory of someone who suffers from this dreaded disease is not just about raising money, said walk co-chairs Carol Lancaster and Lisa Barker. It educates and lets people know they are not alone, they said.
"We are trying not just to educate caregivers, but the public so that they have an understanding," Ms. Barker said. "We have a lot of support from this community, Greene County, Duplin County and Wayne County and without that it would not be a good thing.
"The person who is suffering from that dreaded disease, they really don't know what is going on. They are confused. Everything changes for them. But the people who care for them, they see it day in, day out."
It is a message that Patsy West of Mount Olive relates to.
Her mother, Clara Anderson, has Alzheimer's.
Mrs. West walked with her sister, Margaret Anderson, and niece, Megan Anderson, for the Butterball team.
"We are walking in honor of her," Mrs. West said. "It is such a good cause. There is so much of it now. You hear it in almost every family."
Mrs. West, who also walked last year, said she thought Saturday's walk was just as good, if not better than last year's.
"Carol Lancaster, one of the organizers, is a very good friend of mine and she does an awesome job," she said. "She puts her whole heart into it. I think it was just short of a mile. It didn't matter to me because I was just ready for it to be over. My legs are hurting.
"It is very important because it is so widespread. Like I said, almost every family has been touched by it, and you don't realize when it is going to be your family. It is a 24/7 job. It is very hard. Actually, in my family we rotate nights during the week and we have caregivers during the day."
Mrs. West said her mother always had to be their first consideration.
"It is hard to watch. It is hard to do," she said. "She can't be left by herself. But we are trying as long as we can to keep her in her own home where she is as happy as she can be for that circumstance. So far she has done pretty good. We have had some bumps, but all in all we have been blessed to have the caregivers we have been able to have.
"We pull together and do what we have to do. There is no choice."
Walking to raise money is small thing to do, she said.
Along with walking, participants share their stories with one another and know they are not by themselves, she said.
"Some of them are horror stories," Mrs. West said. "But you don't know what they deal with until you have walked in those shoes."