The Montrose-Olathe-Delta Walk to End Alzheimer’s brought about 155 people together over the weekend at Confluence Park in Delta and has raised more than $37,000, putting the local event within a few thousand dollars of its fundraising goal.
Lisa Smith, development manager for the Alzheimer’s Association of Western Colorado, said fundraising will continue through the end of the year as the organization works toward the walk’s $40,500 goal.
“We are so close,” Smith said. “We are $3,000 away from our goal.”
More fundraising opportunities are also in the works, including a planned giveback event at Ziggi’s Coffee in Delta, though Smith said a date had not yet been finalized.
The Montrose-Olathe-Delta event is the newest Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Colorado. It began in 2018 and has continued to grow, although Smith said building participation on the Western Slope has been gradual.
“This is the youngest walk of the state,” Smith said. “We’re relatively new in your area. It’s the newest walk in the state.”
That also means there is room for the event to grow. Smith said the association is looking for additional volunteers, businesses and community organizations interested in becoming involved.
The money raised through the walk supports both Alzheimer’s research and services for people living with dementia and their families. Smith said 78 cents of every dollar raised goes toward research, including more than 25 research projects underway in Colorado.
The remainder helps fund support and educational services, including localized support groups, presentations for businesses and community organizations and a 24-hour helpline that Smith said offers assistance in more than 100 languages.
The association also operates a community resource finder that can help people locate services ranging from memory care near their own home to resources for a parent or other relative living in another state.
On the Western Slope, Smith said the association can also supplement services already being provided by local organizations.
She pointed to HopeWest’s dementia program as an example. The Alzheimer’s Association can provide additional resources, staff training and access to services that a local provider might not have available around the clock. Resources are available in both English and Spanish.
The organization also works directly with families trying to understand a diagnosis or navigate difficult conversations with a loved one.
“Sometimes they just want to feel like they’re on solid ground and have a good understanding of what Alzheimer’s is, which is just one kind of dementia,” Smith said.
The association provides resources for people affected by other forms of dementia as well.
Smith said advances in Alzheimer’s research have given her more reason for optimism than when she first became involved with the cause.
She pointed to advances in blood testing and imaging, along with research into brain health and prevention, as significant developments over roughly the past decade.
“There’s never been a better time to hold hope for a world without Alzheimer’s,” Smith said.
For Smith, that work is also personal.
She spent much of her career working in senior communities and had helped other families navigate dementia before experiencing it within her own family when her grandmother developed the disease.
“It’s entirely different when you’re experiencing it with a loved one,” Smith said.
She described watching her grandmother gradually lose recognition of the people around her, along with her own memories and some of the joy associated with them.
“It’s a terrible disease,” Smith said. “It’s so disheartening.”
That experience is part of what brings her back to the walk.
“I walk for my loved ones that I’ve lost,” she said. “I walk for hope for myself and a better tomorrow for my children.”
The Western Slope’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s presence predates the Montrose-area event. Smith said the first Grand Junction walk was held in 1998 with about 100 participants.
This year, the Grand Junction event has already raised more than $102,000 toward a $127,000 goal, she said. That walk is scheduled for Oct. 10, giving people who missed the Montrose-Olathe-Delta event another opportunity to participate.
Local businesses have also played a significant role in the Montrose-Olathe-Delta walk. This year’s presenting sponsors included Visiting Angels, Builders FirstSource in Montrose and Crossroads at Delta.
Smith said she would like to see that community involvement expand further, including through service organizations such as Rotary. The national organization has an Alzheimer’s and dementia-focused Rotary Action Group, but Smith said no Western Colorado Rotary club currently has someone leading that effort locally.
“We’re still looking for more volunteers and organizations that would like to partner with us,” Smith said.
For Smith, the progress she has witnessed in Alzheimer’s research makes supporting that work particularly meaningful.
“When I started walking, it was a dream on the horizon that there would be an ability to know if someone has Alzheimer’s in advance of the disease,” she said.
And while the Montrose-Olathe-Delta walk remains one of the state’s younger events, Smith said every participant and every dollar raised contributes to a much larger effort.
“This really is, in my opinion, the very best thing that we can be doing because it’s so much bigger than all of us,” she said. “But together, we really can make a big difference.”
Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.
