Walk to End Alzheimer’s event in Merced raises over $45K, despite COVID-19 pandemic
Saturday’s Annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Merced wasn’t typical for the event’s organizers, due to the coronavirus.
Despite the virus, however, “Promise Garden” was still there with colorful flowers reminding people of loved ones affected by Alzheimer’s Disease. Plus tens of thousands of dollars were still raised and there were close to 150 participants.
While the pandemic forced the event organizers to change and adapt, they still considered it to be successful. “I’m proud of this little group,” said Cheryl Schrock, who manages the Merced event. “Against all odds they kept moving forward and continued to work hard.”
The annual event usually draws over 300 people to Applegate Park and has generated over $500,000 in donations through the years. The event is a fundraiser, but it also serves as a way to help educate people and bring awareness to the disease.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s event had to make changes. The biggest change was participants didn’t walk together in a fixed route in a large group, but rather walked on their own.
“We couldn’t gather in person,” Schrock said. “Everyone is walking everywhere, from their porch, in their neighborhood, down their street, wherever they can walk.”
Event organizers and volunteers set up the “Promise Garden” in front of the Park Merced Assisted Living Center on M Street in Merced on Saturday morning.
Participants were encouraged to watch opening ceremonies online at Act.alz.org/merced2020.
“We have teams participating in Merced, Los Banos, Atwater and Sonora,” said Eileen Flynn Smith, who serves on the event planning committee. “We’re a smaller group this year, but we’ve raised more money.. Regardless of COVID we had to continue to do the walk in Merced.”
Despite all the challenges, this year’s event still drew 146 participants and has raised $46,992 in donations toward their goal of $65,000. The event will continue raising money through December. People can donate online at Act.alz.org/merced2020.
Volunteers and organizers had to work to get the word out to potential participants that the event was still being held this year. They used social media, emails, phone calls and texts to get the word out.
“Everything had to change and adapt with COVID-19,” said event chairperson Denise Glassett. “Alzheimer’s is such an epidemic. There are so many people affected by it. It’s not going to stop because of COVID-19. Sure there are going to be some people who will be unable to participate or donate because of the unknown, but we’ve had many people step up and donate.”
Everyone who registered for the event was given a flower. The color of the flower signifies where each person is in their Alzheimer’s journey. This year the flowers were mailed to participants.
An orange flower signifies you are concerned with the costs of the disease.The yellow flowers signifies you are a caretaker or family members of someone with Alzheimer’s. Purple flowers represent people who lost someone to the disease. The blue flowers signify you have the disease.
The group is planning a couple more fundraisers in the upcoming months to help reach their goal, including a dinner drive-thru event at Little Taste of Tequila in Atwater on Oct. 24 and a See’s Candy fundraiser in December.
This story was originally published October 4, 2020 at 11:41 AM.
