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In order to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s, 75 walkers took part in the fifth annual Waxahachie Memory Walk early Saturday morning at Getzendaner Park.
“We continue to grow every year,” Bryant Martin, director of public relations for the Greater Dallas Alzheimer’s chapter said. “We have an increase of participants every year.”
The annual walk is based on pledges received by participants and this year the walk raised $11,000.
“This is a time to come together and talk about Alzheimer’s and share ideas about care and research,” Martin said.
Along with the walk which started promptly at 9:30 a.m., bounce houses were available for children and several antique cars were on display for participants.
The Waxahachie Chick-Fil-A also donated 15 percent of their daily receipts on Saturday to the organization.“We serve 46 counties in the Greater Dallas area,” Martin said. “We hold three memory walks during the year, a long with a celebration on Nov. 4 at the Dallas Zoo. The event at the zoo is much larger and this year Terrell Owens is our honorary chairman for the event.”
The event is free and the public is invited.
Alzheimer’s is a neurological brain disease that leaves patients virtually incapable of caring for themselves.
“Alzheimer’s patients tend to lose their good judgments, memory and have a tendency to wander away from their homes,” Martin said. “When people start seeing changes in behavior or short term memory loss in themselves or a loved one, we encourage them to contact our chapter and visit with a doctor. Alzheimer’s begins to develop around the age of 65 but people as young as 35 can develop the disease as well.”
With a large population of baby boomers nearing retirement age, Martin said the Alzheimer’s association is concerned the disease will bankrupt Medicaid and Social Security.
“Our chapter is the only chapter in the country that has pledged $2 million to Alzheimer’s research,” Martin said. “The money goes to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s but the great thing about today’s walk is that the money all stays in Ellis County.”
Nearly 8,000 residents in Ellis County live with some stage of Alzheimer’s.
More than 450,000 Texans and 4.5 million American’s live with the disease as well.
On average, 986 new patients are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s every day.

For a number of walkers on Saturday, their personal ties to Alzheimer’s patients led them to get involved.
“There are several things that led me to support the Alzheimer’s association and the memory walk,” walker Chuck Smith said. “I’ve worked with a hospice for the last five years and watched folks who have been touched by this disease. I’m also good friends with Beverly Worthington who helped start the Memory Walk a year after her husband died from the disease. This is just good for the community as well as the care givers.”
With online pledging and donations, Smith said it’s easy for him to gather support from friends and family members with e-mails sent from home.
“Awareness is the biggest challenge when you’re dealing with something like this,” Smith said. “Lots of people and organizations are fighting for everyone’s attention and the less you understand about the disease the harder it is to support it. But there remains a tremendous need. In the Dallas, Fort Worth and Ellis County area nearly 45,000 people live with Alzheimer’s. Add a caregiver or two to that number and you have a huge number of people who are affected by this disease.”
Smith said people should log on to the Alzheimer’s Association’s Web site and educate themselves, donate and then “put on some walking shoes and come walk with us.”