Switchyard Park Pavilion was a sea of purple, orange, blue and yellow Sunday as more than 700 participants gathered for Bloomington’s local Walk to End Alzheimer's.
Organized by the Alzheimer's Association, the nationwide walk is the world’s largest fundraiser for Alzheimer’s research and support, according to the event website. Over 600 communities across the country participate. As of Sunday, the Bloomington Walk to End Alzheimer’s raised $159,000 of its $168,500 fundraising goal.
Leading up to the event, Bloomington residents and Indiana University students alike banded together to raise money.
IU Greek organizations played a significant role in both fundraising for and volunteering at the walk. IU’s chapter of Sigma Kappa was one of the top fundraising teams, exceeding its $10,000 goal by over $500.
Junior Anabelle Lemmerman is the Sigma Kappa vice president of philanthropic service. Nearly all of Sigma Kappa’s members participated in Sunday’s walk, Lemmerman said, whether by cheering on the sidelines, volunteering at the check-in table or walking the course.
"My grandparents have been through the struggles of dementia, and so for me it's super touching and super special," Lemmerman said.
Other IU students fundraised or walked in this year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s as well. IU freshman and Bloomington native Jake Cocalis runs an all-ages music venue called Polebarn DIY out of his family's home on South Fairfax Road.
Inspired by his neighbor, whose wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Cocalis organized a benefit concert with a lineup of 15 bands to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association.
“I think he's been a huge role model for me, honestly," Cocalis said. "So, I thought, what better way to say thanks for letting me have a bunch of loud music right next to his house than to have a benefit show in honor of his wife?"
Although Cocalis wasn’t able to attend Sunday’s event, he raised over $2,300 from the concert.
At the end of the walk, event organizers hosted the Promise Garden ceremony, where participants held up flowers of different colors to represent their connection to the disease.
Junior Makenzie Elsalaymeh explained the flowers symbolize the fight against Alzheimer’s on an individual level. An orange flower shows general support of a world without Alzheimer’s. Caretakers of those with Alzheimer’s carried around yellow flowers and those that have lost somebody to the disease held purple ones. Several people at the walk had blue flowers, signaling that they themselves were living with Alzheimer’s.
“I have a purple flower here,” Elsalaymeh said. “Last October, my great aunt did pass away from Alzheimer's.”
Alzheimer’s Association recognizes a fifth flower that has yet to be held by any of the participants: a white flower to represent the first person to survive Alzheimer’s. The white flower symbolizes the hope for a cure for the disease and serves as a beacon of hope at every Promise Garden ceremony.
"I hope that we are able to continue fundraising so we can continue the research, but the ultimate goal is to get to that white flower, which is the cure flower,” Diane Cooper, a project manager at IU Health and statewide co-chair for the walk, said. “We're so close, we really are."
Until then, Alzheimer’s Association will continue organizing annual walks not only to raise money but also to provide a space for those affected and their loved ones to connect with others in similar circumstances.
“When you know a person for all your life, and then they end up with this disease, it’s like it’s not even them again,” Theresa Davis, a participant who cares for her father with dementia, said.
Davis said the event reminded her there was a community of people behind her trying to help people like her father.
Zachary Wilson, an administrator at a long-term care facility, Brickyard Healthcare, attended the walk with his family. Wilson has a personal connection to the disease as his grandmother had Alzheimer's.
"I'm supporting and remembering," Wilson said, holding a purple flower while his son spun around an orange one.
Chloe Voris, the life enrichment director at Cedar Creek of Bloomington Memory Care, explained the walk is about honoring and remembering those who have been affected by the disease and giving their loved ones a place to share both grief and hope.
"I'm excited to see families coming together to support loved ones who are going to be attending the walk, but also just memorializing and honoring those that we love and have lost to dementia and Alzheimer's," Voris said.
Though the walk day has passed, fundraising is open through Dec. 31 via the Walk to End Alzheimer’s - Bloomington website.
