Alzheimer’s Association seeks volunteers for Forget Me Not Days®

The Alzheimer’s Association® Greater Illinois Chapter is currently seeking volunteers to participate in the 12th annual Bankers Life and Casualty Company’s Forget Me Not Days Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17.
Established in 2003 by the national life and health insurer Bankers Life and Casualty Company, Forget Me Not Days benefits Alzheimer’s Association chapters nationwide.

The Alzheimer’s Association® Greater Illinois Chapter is currently seeking volunteers to participate in the 12th annual Bankers Life and Casualty Company’s Forget Me Not Days Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17.
Established in 2003 by the national life and health insurer Bankers Life and Casualty Company, Forget Me Not Days benefits Alzheimer’s Association chapters nationwide. This fundraiser will bring volunteers as well as Bankers agents and employees to streets and storefronts as a way to raise awareness of and funds for Alzheimer’s disease. Bankers has helped raise more than $3.3 million for the Alzheimer’s Association through Forget Me Not Days as well as through corporate donations.
Volunteers will work with their local Alzheimer’s Association office to learn where they will be stationed, receiving gardening aprons and canisters to collect donations on the day of the event. In exchange for donations, volunteers will hand out specially marked packets of Forget-Me-Not flower seeds, courtesy of Bankers Life. Seed packets list the Association’s 24/7 toll-free Helpline, 800.272.3900, as well as its website, www.alz.org. One hundred percent of donations will support Alzheimer’s care, support and research.
We need your help to fight Alzheimer’s, the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
Click here to learn more or sign up as a volunteer.

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Register today to participate in The Longest Day on June 21

At least 44 million people worldwide, including 5 million Americans, are living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Support them by registering for The Longest Day®, a sunrise-to-sunset fundraising event taking place June 21. Form a team to honor the strength, passion and endurance of those facing this devastating disease.

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Ditka’s Restaurant honors special lady

This year’s Oak Brook Reason to Hope Chair Maggie Murzanski has been involved with the fundraising luncheon since its inception. Her own mother battled Alzheimer’s before passing away in 2011. Since then, Maggie has become the guardian of another Alzheimer’s sufferer her longtime friend and former neighbor Miss Ginny Croke, 87.

This year’s Oak Brook Reason to Hope Chair Maggie Murzanski has been involved with the fundraising luncheon since its inception. Her own mother battled Alzheimer’s before passing away in 2011. Since then, Maggie has become the guardian of another Alzheimer’s sufferer – her longtime friend and former neighbor Miss Ginny Croke, 87. With the exception of an elderly sister, Miss Ginny does not have immediate family and needed someone to look after her well-being as she faced Alzheimer’s and osteoporosis.
The two women share a warm and genuine friendship. Maggie visits Miss Ginny daily and the women have a standing lunch date at Ditka’s restaurant in Oak Brook. Maggie says Miss Ginny, who she describes as “feisty” and “free-spirited,” has a dedicated table and always looks forward to seeing Chris, her favorite server.
“They’ve taken such a liking to each other. On her birthday, he had a bouquet made up and it was on the table along with a glass of champagne when we got to the restaurant,” Maggie recalled. “Just recently, Miss Ginny made him a Valentine’s Day card and he made her one as well. It was really sweet.”
Chris and his colleagues at Ditka’s go out of their way to make Miss Ginny feel special. For a time the restaurant named a dessert after her and featured Ginny’s Ultimate Banana Split on the menu. A percentage of sales benefit the Alzheimer’s Association and the campaign raised more than $6,000 for the Greater Illinois chapter. A smaller version of the dessert will be served at the association’s 27th annual Chicago Rita Hayworth Gala on May 10 at the Chicago Hilton.
“We are so grateful for Mike Ditka’s restaurant. Tony Ficorilli and his staff have been so supportive of our mission at the Alzheimer’s Association since Day One,” said Sam Provenzano, senior manager of Intermediate and Corporate Giving at the Greater Illinois chapter. “We couldn’t be more grateful.”

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Chicken Soup for the Soul book offers inspiration and encouragement

Developed in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association,Chicken Soup for the Soul Living with Alzheimer’s & Other Dementias features 101 inspiring stories written by people living with or caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia. The book, now on sale, offers support and encouragement for everyone affected by the disease. All royalties from Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living with Alzheimer’s & Other Dementias go to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Chicken Soup for the Soul – Living with Alzheimer’s & Other Dementias

200-97-0002

A book developed in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association ®

Are you living with or caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia? You are not alone. With 101 inspiring stories by others like you, this book will be a source of support and encouragement throughout your journey. 

All royalties from Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living with Alzheimer’s & Other Dementias go to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Chapters cover a wide range of experiences, including:

• Accepting a New Reality

• What Does it Feel Like?

• Strategies and Tips for Coping

• Next Steps and Tough Choices

• Taking the Journey with Your Parent

• Younger-Onset Alzheimer’s

• In Sickness and In Health

• The Lighter Side

• New Ways to Make Connections

• It Takes a Village

• The Special Bond with Grandchildren

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Be a voice for those affected by Alzheimer’s

Our annual Illinois survey opened today. Please take the time (about 10 minutes) to participate…you will provide greater understanding about the challenges faced by those living with dementia, their caregivers, and loved ones as well as help shape state policies addressing the critical needs of those impacted. This online survey will close on Friday, May 16.
Please be a voice for those affected by Alzheimer’s and take the surveytoday!

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