Saturday, Sept. 17 hundreds of people gathered on Appian Way at Keene State College for the Annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s. This event is held to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease.
There were 39 teams that signed up and turned up to the event, including a total of 348 participants, all of whom walked a two mile route holding flowers to represent the many lives Alzheimer’s has impacted.
During the event, participants and event viewers held flowers to represent how they have been impacted by the disease.
According to the Walk to End Alzheimer’s website, blue flowers represent someone currently struggling with Alzheimer’s or dementia.
Purple is for someone who has lost a loved one to the disease. Yellow represents someone who is currently supporting or caring for someone with Alzheimer’s, and orange is for everyone who supports the cause and envisions a world without Alzheimer’s.
Development Officer for New Hampshire’s Alzheimer’s Association Kelly Bosco touched on why this event is so important and how it can make an impact.
Bosco has been apart of the Association for two years now and said the event “is about raising awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementia.”
Adam Urquhart/ Equinox Staff
Bosco also said, “It is the biggest movement for the promotion of ending Alzheimer’s.”
While it is important to know what the event is all about, Bosco also acknowledged just how much of an impact she hopes it will eventually have.
“It is one of the leading causes of death that does not have anything that prevents or slows the disease process, so it is really important that we all come together to raise money and create awareness that will lead to finding a cure,” Bosco said.
The Walk to End Alzheimer’s Association has raised 77 percent of their goal of $56,000 as of Tuesday, Sept. 20.
Kyle Kemp can be contacted at kkemp@kscequinox.com
