Annual Upper Ohio Valley Walk to End Alzheimer’s Thrives At New Wheeling U. Home
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WHEELING - The annual Upper Ohio Valley Walk to End Alzheimer’s had a new home on Sunday afternoon.
This year's walk was moved from Wheeling Park to Wheeling University's indoor track.
Upper Ohio Alzheimer’s Association Board of Directors event chairperson Tate Blanchard said the decision to move from Wheeling Park to the University is to be able to have the walk rain or shine.
"That way, we would have the option for the track outdoors if it was available, or we’d have a nice facility indoors that could accommodate everybody easily and for the ease of accessibility for all people," Blanchard said.
The annual event is the organization's largest fundraiser all year.
Blanchard has been involved in the event for the past eight years. He said that, each year, the walk has continued to grow.
"It's truly incredible that it has grown year after year in the eight years that I’ve been involved," Blanchard said. "We started out with not having a lot of people that would come to the walk, and now we’re seeing 300 to 400 or more people that come every year, which is fantastic to see that number of people come together to support the cause."
Although it's great to see the high attendance of the walk, Blanchard said it's a double-edged sword, because it's sad to see that there are so many people that have been impacted in one way or another.
What makes Blanchard passionate about fighting the disease is he’s seen it affect people both in his personal and professional life. He works for IC Care as director of marketing and his grandmother died after battling dementia while Blanchard was in high school.
The walk is donation-based and the organization uses the funds generated from the walk to support local patients and their families that are going through a dementia journey.
"What that means is we offer support groups, and we’re constantly looking for more people to volunteer to host those support groups. But currently, there is a support group called Opportunities to Shine, and it is hosted on the fourth Wed. of every month at 4 p.m. at the First Christian Church Disciples of Christ on National Road here in Wheeling, and that’s led by Dr. Sara Alig from West Liberty University," Blanchard said. "If a family is being impacted by dementia in some way, they are certainly welcome to attend that support group. Or if there’s someone that might be interested in becoming a support group facilitator, they can certainly contact us."
He added that the organization has a 24/7 helpline that can be contacted at 800-292-3900.
Blanchard said that if anyone is dealing with anything dementia-related, then the helpline will connect them with someone that can guide them in the right direction on how to get resources that they need, community education and support.
He added thatthe fundraising event is critically important because there are nearly 7 million Americans living with a dementia diagnosis in the United States.
"Here in the Upper Ohio Valley, it’s really sad because almost 10% of all people age 65 and over are living with a dementia diagnosis. That does not enumerate the numbers of people that are living with cognitive decline, but they have not actually gotten a diagnosis for it either," Blanchard said. "It is so prevalent here in the Upper Ohio Valley, and also it’s really awesome because a lot of people that come to the walk often say that this is like the biggest support group of the year because they’re able to connect with other people that are dealing with very similar situations."
He added that he believes that the reason the diagnosis is so high in the Ohio Valley is because of the superb facilities located in the community.
"We have resources here more so than some other places to be able to diagnose people that are suffering from cognitive decline. We have fantastic facilities like WVU Medicine with their neuroscience institute, the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute just in Morgantown, and so we have a lot of people from the Upper Ohio Valley that will go there to seek treatment," Blanchard said. "Also, the neurology here in the Ohio Valley, if we have neurologists here that are starting to identify these symptoms within patients, then they can certainly send them down to Morgantown, where they might have a better opportunity at a better quality of life, since they have groundbreaking technology and treatment available down in Morgantown."