Redwood News:
The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is coming up on October 14th at the Adorni Center in Eureka. We have team members from Visiting Angels with us to talk about their involvement in the walk. Jeanne O’Neale and Lynn McKenna. How are you guys doing? Great, Great.
Hey, Jeannie. As the executive director of Visiting Angels and you provide elderly caregiving for local residents, can you tell us why your organization got involved with the walk?
Jeanne O’Neale:
Well, visiting Angels Nationwide recommended that each visiting Angels in their community start the walk. So I always wanted to do that, but I just wasn’t able to do that. When the Alzheimer’s Association hired somebody locally to get it going, and I connected with her right off the bat. I became their first presenting sponsor and helped get the walk started.
Redwood News:
Why is it important for Visiting Angels to become involved in the walk?
Jeanne O’Neale:
Because different types of dementia are so prevalent. There’s over 3500 people just here in Humboldt alone that have been diagnosed with the disease. There are many, many more people living with different types of dementia, such as my mom when she was alive, who live with dementia on a daily basis. We have got to put a stop to it. Our children and our grandchildren should not be dealing with this.
Redwood News:
Lynn, your Visiting Angels team has quite a goal these past few years. Can you tell us about it?
Lynn McKenna:
Yes, We decided we wanted to be number one in the nation, so we set a goal to accomplish this. And because of the generous sponsors, businesses, our friends and family, we were able to achieve that for two years in a row. And we’re now hopefully going for number three.
Redwood News:
You have a Quarter Craze fundraising night coming up to raise money on September 13th. Where is it being held? And tell us about it.
Lynn McKenna:
It’s going to be at the Moose Lodge. The doors open at 545 and the moose is going to be serving a spaghetti salad and garlic bread dinner. We’re going to be providing desserts and then it’s like an auction. But you only bid on quarters and the most you can bid is $1 for quarters, and you can bid for however many paddles you buy. We have a wide variety of prizes, and we invite everybody to come to help us raise more money.
Redwood News:
The Visiting Angels team is just one of many teams walking to end Alzheimer’s this year. And if you’re interested in putting together a team yourself, just Google “Walk ALZ Humboldt”. It’s as easy as that. Jeanne O’Neale and Lynn McKenna, thank you for your time today.
Jeanne O’Neale and Lynn McKenna: Thank you for having us.
