Aug 31, 2014 5 min read

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Teams and walkers gathered last year at Wana B Park in Carmichaels for the third annual Greene County Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

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Members of Nanny’s Team “flocked” the front of the Cumberland Township Municipal Building with purple flamingos to promote the Sept. 6 Greene County Walk to End Alzheimer’s at Wana B Park.

Bob Niedbala/Observer-Reporter

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The Alzheimer’s Association is using this logo to ask Greene County residents and businesses to “Paint the Town Purple” through Sept. 6, the date of the fourth annual Greene County Walk to End Alzheimer’s at Wana B Park.

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Lilly Myers is only 4 years old, but she got quite a lesson on the power of social media.

Her great-grandmother is Patty Lewis, who is cared for by her large, extended family in her home in Garards Fort in Greene County. Lewis is 80 and has Alzheimer’s. Her story was told in the fourth installment of the Observer-Reporter’s ongoing series, “No Longer Me.”

Sadly, though, this pernicious disease continually erodes Lewis’ mind and body, and when Lilly and her mother, Amy, drive from their home in Latrobe to periodically visit Lewis, there is seldom, if any, recognition from her.

Yet, that did not dissuade this spunky youngster from wanting to help the woman that she and other members of her family affectionately call “Nanny.”

“She may forget my name, but I will always remember that she loves me,” Lilly said.

And to show that love in return, Lilly, and perhaps as many as 90 others, will be part of “Nanny’s Team” at the fourth annual Greene County Walk to End Alzheimer’s Sept. 6 at Wana B Park in Carmichaels.

To help raise money for Nanny’s Team, Lilly came up with the idea to ask for donations from every state. With help from her mother, who created a YouTube video, Lilly made her plea. “I posted on Facebook and asked friends and family to share, and through social media, both with Twitter and Facebook, she was able to reach out to every state,” Myers said.

At last count from online donations, Lilly received $2,609, which included donations from Canada, Australia and Germany. But Lilly’s contributions are just a part of what has been raised for Nanny’s Team. Myers said there have been yearlong fundraisers, such as bingos, lemonade stands, egg hunts, and family members have been at farmers’ markets and most recently, at the King Coal Show in Carmichaels.

This will be the second year that Nanny’s Team participated in the walk.

“Last year, we raised $4,323, but right now we are close to $20,000,” Myers said. Last year’s walk raised a total of $40,846 with 312 walkers and 27 teams. So far this year, $37,350 has been raised or pledged for a goal of $52,500.

For a daily updated count through the cutoff date of Sept. 3, visit http://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=5382&pg=entry.

Abby Spreng, constituent events manager for the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, said in the last three years, the walk in Carmichaels has raised $71,436. “The walk is our largest fundraising event,” Spreng said. “While the majority of the money goes toward research, it also goes toward providing many programs and services in the community.”

The chairman for this year’s walk in Carmichaels is Melissa Shuckhart Cuppett, whose grandmother, Mae Shuckhart, also suffers from Alzheimer’s. The team of “Mae” We Find a Cure was the top team last year, raising $15,479.

“This is my second year doing the walk but my first year on the committee,” she said. Her family, too, was involved in fundraising activities, from bake sales, yard sales and “paint and sip” events. “I have family in South Carolina, and they did a motorcycle run there,” she said.

Being committee chairman for the walk has been a stressful, yet rewarding experience for Cuppett. “I have met a lot of nice people through coordinating this event. It has been a unifying experience because everyone shares their stories. We all can take comfort in that,” she said.

She also said working on a project such as the walk “affirms within each of us that we are not alone. Unless you have been here, you don’t realize how important that is.”

As the Walk date approaches, the Alzheimer’s Association is asking Greene County businesses and individuals to “Paint the Town Purple,” from now through Sept. 6.

“We are asking local businesses to show their support and raise awareness for the rising Alzheimer’s epidemic and ‘go purple’ by decorating storefronts in purple or simply handing a purple ribbon in a show of support,” Spreng said. “We also will be asking residents to display a purple bow or awareness ribbon outside their home if they know someone who has Alzheimer’s or related dementia,” she said.

Why such a big push for awareness?

“Every 67 seconds, someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s,” Spreng said. “There are no survivors; no one goes into remission; no one is cured, and sadly, everyone that is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s will die from it.”

Added Amy Myers, “I know our family cannot bear to see another one of our family members go through this.”

Registration and donations will be accepted on the day of the walk.

And, as the Alzheimer’s Association says: “Walk isn’t all we do, but all we do depends on Walk.”