October 3, 2020
Walk to End Alzheimer's raises funds for finding a cure
Some walked on city streets. Some walked on county roads. Others walked in city parks, but they all walked for the same purpose Saturday — to raise money to find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. This year’s Poplar Bluff Walk to End Alzheimer’s looked much different than its prior four years. There was no large, in-person walk, but participants still were asked to walk, albeit on their own.
Some walked on city streets. Some walked on county roads. Others walked in city parks, but they all walked for the same purpose Saturday — to raise money to find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.
This year’s Poplar Bluff Walk to End Alzheimer’s looked much different than its prior four years. There was no large, in-person walk, but participants still were asked to walk, albeit on their own.
As of Saturday afternoon, the walk had raised, $6,560 of its $25,000 goal. It had 55 people and 17 teams participate.
After watching the opening ceremony online, Gloria Hampton took to the streets in her Bluff Estates subdivision for a 30-minute walk.
The route was a familiar one for Hampton, who knows the effects of Alzheimer’s first hand.
“The reason I got involved was because of my mother primarily,” Hampton explained. “I’ve had first-hand experience. …
“It’s heartbreaking, just the changes in the individuals as the symptoms get a little bit worse. You see the decline, and there is nothing you can do to help stop it.”
What Hampton experienced with her mother, “even though she was older, does not mean it’s an old-age problem. It can strike at any age.”
For Kristie Harmon, she too knows the effects Alzheimer’s has had on a loved one.
“I have a very close family member who is not ready to claim being diagnosed,” said Harmon, a first-time participant. “It’s been a difficult year for our family.
“The thing that we’ve come to realize, she’s still there. No matter what, it is hard for her, as it is for those taking care of her.”
The disease, Harmon said, is “very scary for her,” but her loved one is “still that person,” who used to comfort her when she was young.
Since the diagnosis, Harmon said, she has learned of the availability of trials, support groups and cognitive therapies.
“There’s things we’ve been a part of, a lot that I found out from the Alzheimer’s Association,” said Harmon, whose family is hungry for more information about the disease.
Harmon’s loved one is the third generation to be afflicted by the disease.
“I feel this is something I may face someday,” she said. “I’m not sure it is, but I hope someone treats me like I’m still Kristie” if it does.
According to Hampton, there is such a need for “funds to continue the research, looking for that first survivor.”
Having participated all five years, Hampton, for the third time, was the top fundraiser this year, raising $1,486.26.
“It just really amazes me because I don’t feel like I did that much” this year, said Hampton, whose total went up Saturday after she got a call from a friend who had read about the walk in the paper.
Hampton hadn’t asked the friend to donate this year, but, she said, “she brought it to me at my house” Saturday morning.
Hampton said this year’s amount is about a third of what she normally raises.
“The last two years, I had a team,” Hampton said. “There were three of us on the team, and we were able to raise more funds from yard sales and bake sales.
“Of course, this year has been totally different because of the pandemic. I didn’t try to recruit them again for that reasons.”
Having walked as a part of an 18-member team in 2019, Lana Moore of Poplar Bluff still walked this year, but with her 80-pound German shepherd, Nina.
Moore said she and Nina walked about two and half to three miles on Baskey Road Saturday.
Like Hampton, Alzheimer’s has “effected our family,” said Moore. “ … You see the devastation of Alzheimer’s and what it does to the entire family.
Moore said her family extends to the residents at The Manor, where she has served on a ministry through her church for 31 years.
“We go every Sunday, and those folks there are family to us,” Moore said. “We see the devastation that Alzheimer’s causes” on some of the residents.
Moore had raised about $300 for this year’s walk, and her Solid Rock team had raised $720 of its $3,000 goal Saturday afternoon.
Last year, Moore said, she had engaged her team with Solid Rock Puppet Ministry to join her in the walk, and together they raised about $2,300.
While Hampton and Moore walked in their neighborhoods, Harmon and her husband, Stacy, walked in McLane Park Saturday morning.
Although her loved one can’t remember dates or upcoming events, “that’s not what is important,” Harmon said. “To me, what’s important, when I’m walking, I’m remembering the time spent with her.”
As the Harmons walked they passed the promise garden displaying the four colors of flowers associated with Alzheimer’s, which was set up at McLane Park.
Hampton said she was the first to visit the garden as it was being set up early Saturday morning when she met Walk Manager Jacob Farmer to turn in the rest of her funds.
“It was a little bit breezy; those (flowers) spinning just made it all more meaningful,” Hampton said.
With this year’s walk behind her, Moore is hopeful the “climate for our nation is better” next year, and “we can do more.”
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