The Poplar Bluff Walk to End Alzheimer’s will be held virtually on Saturday, with a drive-thru promise garden set up in McLane Park.
“For the health and safety of all our participants … we’re not able to have a large, in-person gathering this year,” explained Jacob Farmer, walk manager for the Greater Missouri Alzheimer’s Association. “What we are doing instead of that, we are going to be encouraging people to walk as individuals, as teams, as families in their neighborhoods, on their sidewalks, tracks and trails knowing others in the community are doing the same.”
This year’s event is “going to be a lot different, but we still want to make people (aware) this is going on. It’s still walk day (Saturday).
“We want everyone to walk and continue to fight.”
Farmer said those who register for Poplar Bluff’s fifth annual walk also are encouraged to “join us for our virtual opening ceremony.”
The link to the 10 a.m. ceremony can be found by clicking “walk details” at https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2020/MO-GreaterMissouri?fr_id=13569&pg=entry .
As of Wednesday, 47 people and 16 teams were registered for this year’s walk.
The fundraising goal for the walk is $25,000, $5,700 of which had been raised by Wednesday.
Those numbers, Farmer said, are down significantly.
“But, there are a few things to keep in mind,” Farmer explained. “One, a lot of people with us … will register on walk day, bring donations on walk day or leading up to the walk.
“That’s part of it, but then the other part, yes, there is some impact from what’s going on (with the COVID-19 pandemic). A lot of people are not able to fundraise or just have a lot of other things on their plates.”
The walk, Farmer said, has been “back burnered” this year for some.
Despite the pandemic, “Alzheimer’s hasn’t gone away and neither have we,” Farmer said.
Farmer emphasized it is free to sign up for the walk, and “anyone who signs up, they are going to be able to help us spread awareness.”
That, according to Farmer, is going to be of “upmost importance this year. That’s going to help us continue on as we get back to normal.”
This year’s in-person element, which is “kind of a nod to the walk” is going to be the “view-only promise garden.”
There will be four different colors of flowers included in the display, said Farmer, who indicated the display also will recognize its sponsors and “our facts and figures will be up out there.”
Each color, he said, represents a different connection to Alzheimer’s Disease.
“The first color is orange,” Farmer explained. “The orange flower represents somebody who doesn’t necessarily have a connection to the disease personally, but they are an advocate for a cure. They are just supporters.”
The yellow flower represents someone who is caring for or supporting someone with Alzheimer’s or another dementia, Farmer said.
“The purple represents somebody who has lost somebody to Alzheimer’s or another dementia,” Farmer said. “Then, the last color is blue.
“A blue flower represents someone who is currently living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.”
The point of the flowers, and “what we drive at is that there is one flower that we’re aiming to add to that garden, and that flower is the white flower,” Farmer said. “We don’t have white flowers in the garden yet because (it) is representing the first survivor of the disease that we have yet to find.”
That, according to Farmer, is “what unites us, adding that flower to the promise garden one day.”
Although the garden is new this year, Farmer said, the flowers are not as “people are very familiar” with them.
“Typically, what we do, when people come to walk, we have those four colors of flowers available, and you go and pick up what color represents your connection to the disease,” Farmer said. “Then, you carry that while you walk.
“ … We’re kind of taking that from the walk and adapting it for the times we are in now.”
The promise garden will be on display in McLane Park between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. It will be located near the baseball/softball fields.
Farmer said people are encouraged to “drive by and look at it. … We encourage people to take pictures throughout the day, walking with teams or families. We have two hashtags — #walk2endalz and #endalz.”