STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Hundreds of people walked across the College of Staten Island’s Willowbrook campus Saturday morning with the hope of finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
With more than 20 sponsors, the walk raised $52,480 and was organized by the Alzheimer’s Association, New York City Chapter, Staten Island Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
There are 5.8 million of people in America who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and it kills one in three seniors who are diagnosed, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Congressman Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) attended the event, saying that one day he hopes there will be another walk “not in pursue of a cure, but in celebration of the fact that we have found one.”
Rose -- who said he is seeing first-hand the impact of Alzheimer’s through his 97-year-old grandfather’s diagnosis -- pledged to take Staten Islander’s stories to Washington, D.C. in order to “make sure that we increase national health and Alzheimer’s research funding by billions and billions of dollars.”
Overall, Alzheimer’s and other dementias cost the United States $290 billion, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Some Staten Islanders shared their personal stories of how Alzheimer’s affected their and their loved one’s lives.
Christine Hansen said her mother died in 2015, but that the disease took her life away little by little.
“To tell you the truth we lost my mother years before she died,” said Hansen. “Together we can relate to each other.”
Walkers held pinwheel flowers of different colors:
-Purple, for those who lost someone to Alzheimer’s;
-Blue, for those who are currently living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia;
-Yellow, for those who are currently supporting or caring for someone with Alzheimer’s;
-And orange for those simply supporting the cause of ending the disease.
The ultimate goal is to add a white pinwheel of flowers representing those who survived Alzheimer’s.