The next time you are in a grocery store or shopping mall take a close look around you.  Nearly 1 in 3 of the people you see knows someone suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.  Perhaps it’s a family member or just the neighbor down the street.  Alzheimer’s does not discriminate.  It can attack anyone regardless of race, gender, educational level, wealth status or physical condition.  Although targeting those predominantly over 65, it can and does affect people much younger.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disease. As many as 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s.  Approximately 200,000 of them are right here in Georgia.  And that number seems to be increasing.  Alzheimer's destroys brain cells, causing memory loss (dementia) and problems with thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life.  Alzheimer’s gets worse over time, and it is fatal.  In fact, it is the 6th leading cause of death in the US.  Although there is no current cure, there is hope through ongoing research efforts.

Here is your chance to help fight this terrible affliction.  Join the over 1200 participants from a six-county area (Clayton, Coweta, Fayette, Henry, South Fulton, Spalding) in the 10th Annual Southern Crescent Alzheimer’s Memory Walk in Peachtree City on Saturday, October 3rd.  The assembly point is the parking lot of the Frederick Brown, Jr. Amphitheater, 201 McIntosh Trail.  Take the 5K (3.2 miles) stroll through the woods along the cart paths.  Watering stations are located along the route.  Bring the kids!  Bring the family dog!  Bring your friends and neighbors!  But, most of all, bring a donation.

Participants begin arriving about 8:00 AM.  Take advantage of free breakfast snacks while listening to the music of the Peachtree Jazz Edition.  Sign the Memory Board in honor/memory of loved ones.  Kids will enjoy the antics of the Clowns of Good Hope Baptist Church.  Attach a tag to a balloon with the name of someone with Alzheimer’s in preparation for a group balloon release.  Sign up for prize drawings to be held after the walk.  Visit the sponsor’s booths.  Warm-up for the walk with personal trainers from Gold’s Gym.  Runners leave at 9:15 AM with walkers departing at 9:30.  And after the walk, be sure to enjoy a free lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers prepared by the Kiwanis Club of Peachtree City.

The first Memory Walk in Peachtree City was organized in 1999 by Floy Farr, co-founder of Peachtree City, to honor his wife who suffered with Alzheimer’s.  Over the past nine years approximately $1,500,000 has been donated by walk participants to benefit the Georgia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.  They provide services to enhance the quality of care given to individuals and families suffering with Alzheimer’s.  Since early this Summer county chairmen have been seeking volunteers and organizing teams to solicit donations through various fund-raising efforts.  The Memory Walk provides you with an opportunity to join in and show that you care.

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