Make a $250 Memory Walk donation, and your busienss gets an ad on this blog

If your company makes a donation of at least $250 to the Alzheimer's Association 2010 Memory Walk through my DementiAwareness team, here's the deal: I'll give your company an ad on my blog from now to the end of the year -- free.

This is the primary fundraiser for the Alzheiemer's Association, with a series of Memory Walks taking place throughout the country. Ours here in the Syracuse area is a 3-mile walk starting at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at Long Branch Park.

I'm honored to be asked to serve as honorary chair.

If you don't know someone with Alzheiemer's disease or another dementia, or someone caring for a person who is afflicted, chances are very good that you will in your lifetime. And more than one.

A growing number of people are dealing with a dementia, either as patients or caregivers. More than 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer's, which is thought to only represent 60 to 80 percent of all dementias. It's a disease that affects primarily older people. And with the first of the Baby Boomers turning 65 in 2011, many health experts are saying we are not adequately prepared.

One of my roles as honorary chair of the Memory Walk is to make sure businesses understand the impact this disease has on their workers. It's profound. Sure, there are signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's, but often it sneaks up before a family realizes their matriarch or patriarch is so afflicted. One day, a dutiful daughter is a hard-charging career woman, and the next, she's struggling to take the car keys away. Caregivers are thrust into a role that is, quite simply, overwhelming. The stress is constant and can be debilitating. (Read more of my blog for multiple posts by and about caregiver issues.)

This disease is not just a personal medical issue. It is already making a huge impact on our nation's health care system and the insurance industry--the cost of the disease is estimated at $20.4 trillion over the next 40 years, by the way. Businesses large and small are impacted not only in increasing health costs, but in worker absenteeism when one must care for a loved one.

Donations to the Alzheimer's Association go toward care, support and research. Dollars raised at the Syracuse Memory Walk stay right here in Central New York. Remember, if you donate through DementiAwareness, I'll put your ad on my blog through the end of the year. (The sooner you donate, the longer your ad appears!)

Need more information? Email Amber Smith at amberink@twcny.rr.com with "Memory Walk" in the subject line. Thanks!

Please join me at the Syracuse Memory Walk Oct. 2 to raise money for Alzheimer's

The main fundraiser for the Alzheiemer's Association is a series of Memory Walks that take place throughout the country. The one in the Syracuse area happens at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at Long Branch Park. I'm honored to be asked to serve as honorary chair.

This 3-mile walk raises money for Alzheimer's care, support and research right here in Central New York. Please, join my team. It does not cost anything to walk. Of course, walkers are most welcome to make a donation of any amount. (Donate or raise $100, and you earn a 2010 Memory Walk T-shirt.)

Sign up here to join my DementiAwareness team.

You may make also make an online donation--and know that any amount is appreciated.

If you can't make the Syracuse walk, four other Memory Walks take place in September in the Central New York region, including St. Lawrence, Jefferson-Lewis, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley.

What mountaineering and Alzheimer's have in common

Alan Arnette reports on the people attempting to summit Mount Everest, and other mountains. He describes himself as a passionate amateur mountaineer and says Alzheimer's research is important to him, personally, because the disease took his mother in August 2009.

His climbing blog is soliciting votes (not money, just votes) to help raise money for the Cure Alzheimer's Fund. Pepsi is running the contest, and the cause that generates the most votes will receive a $250,000 donation. Wouldn't it be cool to have that money go toward Alzheimer's research? (Vote directly, here. Watch a 1:44-minute clip about the fund, below.)

I stumbled on Arnette's blog--and voted, of course--because I've been trying to keep track of a Central New York doctor who is climbing Everest and hoping to summit on May 17. Read about Dr. Manoj Vora, here.