Do your 2018 New Year’s resolutions include exercising more? Giving back to the community? Spending more time with family and friends? Have we got the event for you: Teams have already begun organizing for Knoxville’s 2018 Alzheimer’s Tennessee Walk. Start a team with at least three members, and every team member who raises $50 by January 1 will get a pair of socks sporting the new 2018 “Walking to Sock Out Alzheimer’s” logo.
Alzheimer’s Disease advocate Ashley Campbell, daughter of the late Glen Campbell, performs at the 2017 Knoxville Alzheimer’s Tennessee Walk.
The Knoxville Walk takes place Saturday, April 14, at the University of Tennessee Gardens adjacent to Neyland Drive. There will be other fundraising incentives and support along the way.
“Really, [the date] is right around the corner,” says Alzheimer’s Tennessee’s Kay Watson. Watson is the development director for the regional non-profit, which has its offices on Kingston Pike, between Northshore and Westwood Drive in Bearden. The walk is a significant fundraiser for the 30-year-old independent organization, which serves the East Tennessee community exclusively. The goal for the Knoxville 2018 walk is $250,0000.
The 2017 walk was chaired by Courtney Fulmer Peace and Jennie Scruggs Johnson, who shared their families’ own experiences with the disease. Special guests included Courtney’s dad, Phillip Fulmer, now the athletic director at the University of Tennessee.
“Coach Fulmer has been a friend of Alzheimer’s Tennessee for a long time,” says Watson. She says she appreciates his continued strong support of the organization given the considerable demands on his time.
A kickoff for the walk is planned for sometime in February. Watson is working with major sponsor WIVK to secure a special guest for the walk. Last year the broadcaster brought in performer and nationally known Alzheimer’s advocate Ashley Campbell to perform. Campbell’s father, performer Glen Campbell, passed away in August after becoming one of the best-known faces of Alzheimer’s Disease.
All generations are welcome at the walk, as are well-behaved pets. The walk itself is approximately one mile, and there is a shorter, symbolic route for those who cannot or prefer not to make the mile.
Alzheimer’s Tennessee provides a variety of year-round services and resources, including caregiver training workshops. Watson and her staff are currently lining up a complete 2018 schedule for those.
The need for such caregiver training was overwhelming and unmet, says Watson, “And the community response has just been huge.”
The organization also provides an annual symposium for healthcare professionals to share clinical research news and other information about Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias. There is an annual legislative advocacy day, in which the staff and many of the group’s supporters take a bus ride to Nashville to talk to the state legislature about the disease and how it affects the people of our region. The group also provides “Silver Alert” information to law enforcement on how to deal with people with dementia in crisis situations and how to direct families to available resources.
Alzheimer’s Tennessee also staffs a 24-hour helpline for caregivers and others in need.
Register for the walk or donate to an established team by visiting https://alztnevents.org/campaignpage.asp?campaignid=203. For more information about other ways to give to or volunteer with the organization, visit www.alztennessee.org or call 888-326-9888. The organization’s web site also includes a complete library of information for caregivers and others, including a series of informative videos.
The starting line at the 2017 Knoxville Alzheimer’s Tennessee Walk