Race to End Alzheimer’s©

Because Alzheimer’s is such a big issue to us at Visiting Angels®, we take it seriously. Obviously, in a business where we care for seniors, we see the devastating results of this disease on a daily basis. Just for context, here are a few bullet points from the 2023 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures Report:

● An estimated 6.7 million Americans over age 65 are living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2023. 

● About 1 in 9 people (10.8%) over age 65 have Alzheimer’s dementia. 

● Two-thirds of Americans over age 65 with Alzheimer’s dementia (4.1 million) are women. 

● Deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease between 2000 and 2019 have more than doubled, increasing 145%. 

● 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia. 

● The total lifetime cost of care for someone with dementia is estimated at $392,874. Total payments for health care, long-term care and hospice care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are projected to increase to nearly $1 trillion in 2050. 

That’s why we at Visiting Angels ® walk, promenade and race to end Alzheimer’s. Here’s a rundown on all three of those activities we use to raise awareness and funds in the race to end Alzheimer’s. 

“The Walk”. This year the walk will be at Middle Georgia State University, 100 University Parkway  on October 21st with registration starting at 8 am and the walk starting at 9 am. The idea of the walk is to raise funds by having people pledge donations but you can attend absolutely free and just lend your support by your attendance. 

“The Promenade”. Last year the Promenade, officially called the “Forget Me Not” pageant by the Alzheimer’s Association (Appropriate name I thought), was held at a local church in Warner Robins. It was what most of us seniors would call a beauty pageant that included 35 contestants ranging in age from under five to about thirty five I’d guess. I had three granddaughters there in three different age groups and I won’t tell you the actual results because I don’t want to be accused of bragging! But the fundraising results of the promenade were truly impressive to me: together, everyone involved raised over $5000 from the community in the race to end Alzheimer’s.

And then there’s “The Race”, which is the most fun for the Milby boys. A few years ago, we bought and old Camaro (actually rescued from a local back yard) that had not been run in  years. In fact, it had a literal rat’s nest in the air intake!. Needless to say, it needed a lot of TLC even to get it to run, let alone race. But by burning a lot of midnight oil we did it and had a lot of fun and learned a lot in the process. Now it’s ready, and even competitive, in a couple endurance race venues that usually last about 14 to 15 hours. If you can imagine running you car at wide open throttle then braking as hard as you can for 14 hours nonstop you can get an idea of how challenging these events are!

To start with, after getting it to run we had to build a roll cage and then make a bunch of safety modifications before the venue would even let us compete. At first, the car looked as “ratty” as that rat’s nest I mentioned, but then we decided to recast it as a “show car” to help us in The Race to End Alzheimer’s.

I am so proud of my two sons, William and David, who without an prior training, wrapped the car in bright purple vinyl with yellow trim and custom graphics such that if you stand back a few feet it looks as though it came right off the pages of a racing brochure. I still can’t believe they did it themselves!

We still race it, but now it does double duty as an Alzheimer’s awareness and fundraising tool. We  plan to have it on display at “The Walk” on Oct. 21st. Why not come join us? Bring you grandkids and let us take your picture with them seated in the racecar.

Thanks for reading All About Seniors… see you at “The Walk”?

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA

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