Designing bags for Alzheimer’s

Jocelyn Solorzano has designed more than 50 bags for her Going Green For Grandpa campaign.

Since June, when she first saw a report on how little the government contributes to Alzheimer’s research, Solorzano has been designing bags and selling them to help raise money for the cause.

“Because it’s mostly private companies that are trying to come up with new medicine for Alzheimer’s, not enough government money is going to that,” Solorzano said. “My grandpa had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and he progressed really quickly and I thought, ‘There’s just got to be a way for me to raise money.’”

That way ended up being the green movement.

Each bag is made out of eco-friendly fabric – as close to 100 percent recycled material as

Solorzano can find. She designs the bags to custom-fit the needs of each order.

“People want crazy colors, or they want an all-black bag with silver writing,” she said.
“I have to go out of my way to get materials, so it does cost more, but if they are willing to pay for it, then I don’t mind
doing it.”

A typical Going Green for Grandpa bag costs $5. However, since Solorzano does all the sketching of the bag by hand, a custom name on the bag costs $7. Although the bags are handmade, Solorzano usually has an order finished in a day.

After showing the bags off at a grocery store in her hometown of Fishers, Ind., Solorzano spent the better part of her summer making bags, but she said it was a lesson learned from her leadership retreat that pushed her to make the first one.

Solorzano attended LeaderShape, a week of activities and skill-building with other
leaders in Morgantown, Ind. The LeaderShape Institute IU brings students from IU’s campuses together for a week of team building.

There, Solorzano was told that leadership starts with a vision.

“Before LeaderShape, it just would have been a thought,” she said. “But after coming from that I thought, ‘I actually need to be proactive about it and
doing something.’ It definitely motivated me to go ahead and do it and not be so scared not to do it.”

Conor McIntyre, one of the coordinators of LeaderShape, said Solorzano is on to something with her philanthropic cause.

“It’s one thing to have an idea, but it’s another thing to take an idea and put it into action,” McIntyre said. “It’s admirable that she’s done it so quickly.”

Solorzano’s grandpa passed away just days before her return to campus this year.
Now, her grandmother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, but she has no intention of changing her nonprofit business’s name.

“It’s just something that is going to happen a lot to a lot more people,” Solorzano said. “If everyone keeps saying, ‘Oh, that’s so sad,’ but they don’t do anything about it, then we’re not going to actually get anything accomplished.”