BREWSTER – The Alzheimer’s Family Support Center of Cape Cod recently announced that it has created a pair of COVID-safe fundraising events in October for people with Alzheimer’s, Dementia and other cognitive diseases.
The event will replace the group’s annual Walk for Alzheimer’s in Provincetown, which was cancelled due to COVID-19.
The AFSC is a non-profit providing free support services for people with Alzheimer’s, Dementia and other cognitive diseases on the Cape.
Representatives of the AFSC said that the vulnerability of Alzheimer’s patients to COVID-19 was a driving force for cancelling the original event.
“The Alzheimer’s and Dementia community was really profoundly affected by the COVID-19 virus. That community in particular took a terrible hit in terms of what happened in nursing homes,” said Melanie Braverman, Co-Founder and Cultural Director of the AFSC.
“One of the things people don’t understand about Alzheimer’s is they think it’s just about the memory of events that have happened in our lives but in fact the brain controls everything. One of the things it controls is our immune system. As people progress through these diseases our immune systems tend to weaken, so this is a very vulnerable community in terms of infection,” she said.
On Saturday, October 16 the AFSC will offer an Alzheimer’s Cultural Day with a range of free virtual events including a live reading and Q&A with Lisa Genova, author of “Still Alice” and “Remember” and a sneak preview of “Have you heard about Greg?”, a documentary about journalist Greg O’Brien, author of the award-winning novel “On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimers”.
On Sunday, October 17 participants will have the chance to walk as the AFSC will set up several hubs across the Cape where walkers can connect, pick up T-Shirts and give donations. Walk maps will be distributed with ideas on places to walk.
The AFSC is offering support to educate families of those with Alzheimer’s on how to access Zoom for the event.
“We have walked our families one at a time through Zoom, teaching them how to use Zoom. Our cohort tends to be older and not quite as technologically savvy as other groups of people are. We want to make sure that people understand the technology so that they can access all these great things that have been online,” said Braverman.
To learn more about the event, click here.
By, Matthew Tomlinson, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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