LIHU‘E — Orlando “O” Anaya and his daughter Keesia were walking for Orlando’s mom, Saturday.
“It’s her birthday today and normally I would be with her on O‘ahu,” Orlando said. “But she has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t even recognize us, so I called some of my relatives and they gave some money so Keesia and I are walking for her.”
More than a hundred walkers and more than a handful of canine friends filled the stage at Kukui Grove Center for the 2009 Memory Walk hosted by the Alzheimer’s Association Aloha Chapter.
Orlando said he sent his son Keenan, a student at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, some money to get flowers and cake and asked him to spend some time with his grandmother while he supported her by walking.
“Each of us is joining with tens of thousands of other walkers throughout the state and across the country to raise our voices in support of our loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease,” said Jill Ramsey, outreach coordinator for the Alzheimer’s Association’s Kaua‘i Chapter. “Every year, this event just gets better and better. But it couldn’t happen without all of the volunteers stepping forward to make this happen.”
Ramsey said this year’s event had more than 125 walkers, 50 registering online, the highest total since the Memory Walk began.
She was not sure how much money was collected by the walkers, but said a final total would be forthcoming.
“It does look like we are very close to reaching our goal of $15,000 for this year — a great accomplishment in these leaner times,” Ramsey said.
As many as 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, states a release from the Alzheimer’s Association.
Alzheimer’s destroys brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life, the release states. Alzheimer’s worsens over time and eventually is fatal, making it the seventh-leading cause of death in the nation.
Ramsey said every 70 seconds, someone will develop Alzheimer’s.
“Here in Hawai‘i, 28,000 of our kupuna suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, and in 2010, just over 10 years from now, 20 percent of Hawai‘i’s residents will be age 65 and older,” she said. “One in eight kupuna age 65 and older will develop Alzheimer’s.”
Ramsey said on Kaua‘i, we have about 1,500 people who suffer from Alzheimer’s.
Charlie “Chip” Rebb, a resident at the Regency at Puakea, is the 2009 Memory Walk ambassador.
“I have been lucky to have remained as healthy as I am,” Rebb said. “I support this walk because of what I see everyday here at Regency in how Alzheimer’s affects so many people who live here.”
Azi Turturici of the Kaua‘i Search and Rescue Canine Team had her team members and their dogs walking because people with Alzheimer’s make up a segment of searches and rescues the team gets called on to conduct.
Funds generated through the 2009 Memory Walk go to providing education and counseling to family members about caring for those with the disease.
“This event, the Memory Walk, is the primary source of money for our outreach and education program,” said Ramsey.
That program recently got a boost from the Anne Sinclair Memorial Fund when Hedges-Ramsey accepted a grant that will be used to start a program of geriatric assessment for Alzheimer’s patients.
“Today, we walk to lift up our kupuna that have Alzheimer’s,” Ramsey said. “We walk to support the caregivers, the unsung heroes of this disease. We walk to raise awareness. We walk with a purpose. We walk for a cause. We walk to end Alzheimer’s.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
