thank you so much for being here today marissa and melissa for coming to talk about the also timers association and what it is doing to fight this horrible disease and how we can all participate in that fight and what services are available for families and caregivers let's start with the walks to end timers which will be happening so morrison if the walk manager of the south shore walk and melissa is the walk manager for the greater boston walk m would you like to begin by telling us about the greater boston walk and where and where that's for sure happy to you thanks for having me today so the greater boston walk to end will be taking place on sunday september twenty fourth and it's being held at north point park in cambridge which right across from the museum of science we offer free parking at the cambridgeshire galleria and we're expecting about seven thousand walkers to participate that day and our goal is to raise one point six million dollars for all honors care support and research the greater boston walk is actually one of the largest walks in the country for the alzheimer's association that's very exciting  and you actually can get to the air by public transportation you can yes yes so the m b t a green line either science park or beach near leech near two stops are both accessible to that park as well opens at eight am and our ceremony starts at nine thirty and we're still working out parking details right now but we will have those posted soon and we usually the shuttle buses i will take the lockers to and from there that's great and our goal this year is three hundred ninety three thousand dollars so random very excited i have faith that we're going to be double we're going to knock it out of the park and that's fabulous and the saucer och is one of the top was our top fifty walks in the country i believe lash it was fifty seven really well it's a wonderful walk because you're walking right along the waterfront and then you take a turn and you go past all the doors in the restaurants and back down to the the plymouth rock  now melissa where do you register for your sure so you can register online prior to walk to the website to do that is a l z walk and a and h stop org or you can go to the address that you gave on line people can sign up ahead of time so they don't wait in line but also they can join a team or make their donation on line and it just makes to easier for them with it if they choose to and building a team for for this walk is is a really good thing to do if you can interest your family friends coworkers whatever in joining you just so much enthusiasm and you know get out there and just really have a fun time so yeah and i think the walk on walk day it's just a day of hope a day of celebrating and gathering friends and family to gather us all participating together one of the great things about the walk is our opening ceremonies so we have our promise card in remembrance ceremony so everybody that participates in the law they will receive a flower and we have four different colors that signify four different connections to the cause so those that have lost somebody to the cause somebody that has also i am or zz we have flowers for caregivers and then we have flowers for supporters of the cause and everybody selects a flower based on their personal connection to the cause and during the remembrance ceremony we highlight each each reason why people participate ask everybody to raise their flowers and it just shows everybody has their own connection but we're all there for the same reason we're all there to fight this disease and we're all united in that cause so you know that's one of the best parts of the the walk yes is that ceremony and it really is impactful and powerful and it's just a great day to  be there with your friends yes it is all together i've been doing this for a few years and about fifteen years now and it it is a wonderful experience to be there and feel part of this and like you're making a difference and the association the alzheimer's association is so supportive and all the staff that i've ever met has including both of whom i do have they've always been very supportive and helpful and it's it's such a horrible disease that i mean some of the statistics and i know that you both have statistics that you can share but i mean just you know the number of people in the united states right now who are suffering with this disease and the caregivers who are caring for them you know have a very big draw so it's not easy and but you have a twenty four seven hotline that people can call and so there's a lot of support and we just have to do something about this so is there anything that you you'd like to share sure so absolutely we would love for people to color twenty four hour helpline it's a great tool and a great resource and you can call with any questions i mean you could want to know what temperature the day is going to be and then we'll tell you what you can call them with any questions regarding the disease whether you are currently dealing with someone or you think someone's exhibiting symptoms or you just have general questions on the disease are you looking for ways to get involved whether it's through advocacy with their fund raising or joining support groups are helpline can answer any questions that you have i know that it can be very scary if somebody is you know just like you go down cellar to put in the water and you come back up and you can't find your mother you know so you want you need to have i mean i have a few details about this disease that are you know kind of stunning to me first of all it's the most common form of dementia alzheimer's is and it's the sixth leading cause of death in the united states it kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined it's just a horrible thing and it robs people of their dignity and their and i have a very dear friend who spent a goodly portion of her childhood in an iron lung but because people really cared and the scientists kept fighting they found a way and that's what we have to do with alzheimer's you know it may not be a back scene but whatever it is we've got to find it absolutely yes and it will that's one of the things that they all timers association is is fighting hard for is to make those advancements in research right now there's no cure or treatment but we're working hard to change that the money that's raised not only goes towards the care and support of families that are impacted by al disease but also helps to fund research to help find that medical breakthrough locally here we fund over six and a half million dollars of research at eleven different you sions right here in massachusetts so it's great and i've been part of the hope study for fifteen years and that's it the medical center and it's just amazing what they do and how hard they're working for it and committed to finding a real cure quite yet so right now there are over five million americans with all timers and that number is projected to rise by fifty five percent by the year twenty thirty now it's just scary and it's it's doing horrible things to the economy as well and we just the alzheimer's association is doing so many different things to help with this they're it's the the the walk which is very important in a lot of fun and that's coming up very soon in four different places right close by here in massachusetts in  touch on the walks real quick we do have twelve walks in between the two states of massachusetts in new hampshire and if you go to that web site melissa mentioned earlier you can find any walk close to you yes so that is we do have a lot in the greater boston area as well but we have a lot advocacy and public policy department that works on lobbying and different talking to different congressmen and senators on a state and federal level and supporting all zimmer's reach and different bills and care acts that will help with different progressions of that and we also have our programs and services department which offers support group help and they offer free educational sessions watch the money from the walks that are raised help fund that's great and anybody can find out about this for my help li number and it's not just money from the walk it's money from the bicycle ride and name some of the other ones because there's a whole bunch of them we have a lot of fundraisers as you said the walk is our biggest fundraiser and we have a lot of other ones i go on in our chapter specifically we have the longest day watches fundraiser done on the summer solstice every year in june we also have the bride what you were talking about the bicycle ride which also happens in june and that is in between the two states new hampshire and massachusetts and it's a different mile bike rides that people raise money to go but we also have a marathon team for the boston marathon and different races that can be run as well so there's a lot of different ways to get involved a lot of different ways to fundraise from the walk to running marathons and differences and writing by so if there's anything that you particularly are interested in there's something out there that you can do there it is one of the most critical health issues facing america and it's not only a profound human tragedy but an overwhelming economic one as well so we we really need to get on this and get going it's the most expensive medical condition in the united states and future costs threaten to bankrupt medicare medicaid and the life savings of millions of americans and that's not a light thing  level for instance my mother who worked all her life and retired and then started showing signs of also timers and she was she was with me for a couple of years  but i was a single parent and i had to work so i couldn't really keep her safe and had to put her in a nursing home she was in a nursing home for eight years and by the time she passed away her entire savings were down to like five so so what are some of the other issues that we need to talk about today for instance  is is very stressful or it can be so there are cables laid out at each of these events that have all kinds of information available to come in there there's bound to be brochures and information about groups that get together and help each other whether it's for caregivers or people with very early stage of all  want to know how they can make the most of their life at this point and they're also brochures and information about studies that you can participate in like the hope study and many others and that's important too because we need to have people go in there are some that are experiencing early stage some that are not showing any signs yet  they're willing to go in and keep participating in the studies and that's important to yeah and i think that's important too to know and to to get the word out that the call the line and say i don't even know why i'm calling here today and we just take it from there we offer as mercer had said we offer educational programs for caregivers for those with the disease  things like financial planning legal issues things along those even just community education programs or know the ten warning signs talking about the basics of all simers disease we can also offer care consultations to families that have been afflicted by the disease and really it's an individualized plan that you sit down with a license social worker and come up with a plan of where to go and what to do in kind of next steps and so we're there to help and support with that and then you also mentioned about clinical trials and we have a program called trial match which is a clinical trial matching service and where looking for all kinds of volunteers so healthy volunteers those that have maybe have the disease maybe those that have a family history really all kinds of of volunteers  and the reason being is that we're funding a lot of research but we can't find a cure without its out of these trials and we need volunteers in order to further those research so we have that trial match program that is a  free clinical trial matching program you put in your information and a list of trials that are close to your clinical trials that are within your area will come up and you can participate in those or you could choose they will have those at the walk all the walks  amazing because you get to talk with people who are involved in this all the time and find out just information about the disease that you didn't know before at least i have any number of times when i've gone just in  talking with them and you know like the effect of four and just for instance i love to walk and i just have this feeling that when i'm out there walking i can feel the oxygen going in my lungs but i know it's also going up to my brain cells and they've done clinical studies that have shown that that is true it's not just my imagination so these things are all really good in f things to do and i and the things that i wanted to mention just popped back i was talking with novena vogel at the local senior center and she was saying that they now really want to find some  kept people who are willing to be team captains here in belmont and you know if people would just sign up and get in touch with you guys and you know maybe we'd get a little more activity going right here although there are lots of people here who are currently walking or participating in some way we need we need to get some teams going and it's really easy to be to start a team yeah  team can be as few as two people it can be as many as two hundred people it really is whatever you want it to be and we provide all the tools and resources to help every participant be successful so it's not a lot of work we've created all the tools that you need to be successful and we make it easy you do provide a lot of support for that and it's amazing how quickly those teams can grow that you didn't you know you start out with the a few but you want a team so you get your  family together the next thing you know so it's all i'd like to join in with that and it just grows and grows and i'm a team captain and my team harriet which is named after my mom has grown from that's and i think one thing also to note is that there's no registration fee for the walk and there's no fund raising requirements so by participating in the walk you don't have to raise a certain amount we appreciate encourage fund raising because that just helps fuel our mission is and fund these programs and services that we're able to offer to family is so we do have fund raising incentives throughout the walk so when you raise certain walking down doing their walk all the number of people who are on the sidelines cheering you on and there there are you know there just are many many people that for whatever reason they may be using a walker or  b in a will cheer or whatever or they just don't want to walk but they're there to cheer people on and and that's that really is encouraging and wonderful so  get out there where there it's boston or whether it's plymouth it's it's a fun thing and it's very worth doing i think anything else this has been very informative and very helpful so until the next time please stay well stay actively involved and stay tuned to what's going on