Keene State’s Fiske Quad once again hosted the Walk to End Alzheimer’s opening ceremony and starting line, covered with a colorful garden of pinwheel flowers and purple decor.
Since 1989, the Walk to End Alzheimer’s has been an annual fundraiser held in more than 600 cities across the country by the Alzheimer’s Association, according to the Alzheimer’s Association website. The walk raises money toward Alzheimer’s care, support and research for treatment and a cure.
The Western New Hampshire chapter of the Walk takes place on the KSC campus each October as a central meeting location for the surrounding community. The registration and opening ceremony for the event take place on the KSC’s Fiske Quad before the participants take off down Main Street for the Walk itself.
On the morning of Saturday, Oct. 25, community members gathered on the Quad with their friends, families and even their dogs in many cases to prepare for the Walk and support the event’s cause.
The setup on the Quad included representative tables for the event’s organizers and their partners. At one table, attendees were encouraged to select a colorful pinwheel flower to personalize as a representation of their reason for walking that day.
The color-coded flowers each represented their own reason for participating in the event. Orange flowers were given to attendees who support the cause, yellow flowers were given to attendees who support or care for someone with Alzheimer’s, purple flowers were given to those who lost someone to Alzheimer’s and blue flowers were given to those who are living with the disease. Walkers were later able to “plant” their personalized pinwheel flowers in a promise garden on the Quad.
Overall, the Keene Walk to End Alzheimer’s saw 435 walkers participate in the event and raised $79,706 toward the fight to end Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Jayne Paragona, vice president of development at the local Massachusetts/New Hampshire chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, attended the Walk and spoke about the work her organization does.
“We raise funds to fund research and also our programs and services and our public policy efforts,” said Paragona.
Paragona encouraged anyone interested in spreading community awareness for the organization to consider doing volunteer work.
“A lot of people don’t know about the Alzheimer’s Association, and all of our programs and services are offered for free to families,” said Paragona. “We’re always looking for people to get involved and help us to spread awareness.”
Paragona also talked about the importance of hosting the Walk on the Keene State campus every year.
“It’s just such a central location for the towns surrounding us and Keene. It’s a beautiful location and they’re so welcoming and easy to work with and really help us organize this event and we’re thrilled to be here,” she said.
KSC’s Director of Student Involvement Jessica Gagne Cloutier is a member of the planning committee for the Walk. Gagne Cloutier said she joined the committee when she was the coordinator of community service at Keene State to get student volunteers involved, and has continued as a member ever since, with this year being her 13th year on the planning committee.
Gagne Cloutier spoke about the event’s importance and said it is a great opportunity for student involvement.
“It’s a great way to connect with students and get them involved in the cause,” she said. “So many of us are impacted by Alzheimer’s in one way or another that even for our students who may have had a grandparent or an aunt or uncle, or someone they know who has experienced Alzheimer’s or been a caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s, it’s nice to be able to come together in community.”
Gagne Cloutier continued on to explain that the event is impactful for the college and the Walk’s attendees because of the understanding community it creates.
“While it’s a fundraiser and a volunteer opportunity, I think just being able to be in a space where you can be vulnerable in your experience and know you’re surrounded by people who understand and care is really, really powerful,” Gagne Cloutier said. “It’s one of my favorite parts and one of the reasons that so many people come out to that event and make it a part of their day. It’s a very emotional day, but it’s also a very celebratory day.”
There were around 40 KSC students who volunteered for this year’s Walk and started their day at 7:00 a.m. to help set up the event, according to Gagne Cloutier.
One of those student volunteers was junior and Delta Phi Epsilon (DPhiE) sorority member Madison Stoddard, who explained that her sorority raises money and volunteers for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s every year.
Stoddard said that the Walk is her favorite philanthropic event that her organization does each year.
“I think it’s really impactful that we do it on this campus at Keene,” she said. “One of my favorite things that we do during this before we start the Walk is there’s people that are living with Alzheimer’s that speak at the podium and talk about their experience and why it’s important to them to raise money. I always like those impactful speeches that always make a difference.”
This year, community member Suzanne Colvin gave a short speech onstage during the opening ceremony. Colvin shared her personal experience as someone who has lived with Alzheimer’s for over seven years and makes it her goal to spread positivity.
“Look at the positive and not what’s happening and keep moving forward,” she said. “I won’t allow myself to go out of my apartment until I’ve got a smile on my face, because that smile may help someone else.”
“We’re all together in this, and we all support one another, and I love you all,” she concluded.
Justin Dearborn can be reached at
jdearborn@kscequinox.com
