CLINTON, Iowa — Orange, purple, yellow and blue flowers lined the grass outside NelsonCorp Field on Saturday morning, in honor of the third Walk to End Alzheimer's in Clinton. The hope is that one day this colorful garden will be filled with white flowers instead.
"People who have orange flowers support our vision of one day, a world without Alzheimer's and all other dementia," said walk manager Megan Olsen. "People with purple, unfortunately, have lost someone to the disease. People with yellow are caring for someone currently, and people with blue actually have dementia."
The white flower will represent someone who's survived Alzheimer's, once a cure is found.
"That's a really beautiful part of the day today, as you can see people's connection," Olsen said.
Around 150 people attended the event, raising $27,000 dollars. Some came in large groups of friends and family, such as a group calling themselves "his crusaders" in honor of someone they know with Alzheimer's.
Mary Madison and Vicki Killean were part of that group. Killean traveled from Cedar Rapids to be a part of it.
"Wish we could get a cure for this, really," Madison said. "I'm in health care, and it's terrible to watch it. It's terrible on the caregivers and the family members more than anything."
Olsen has a personal connection to the disease too.
"My grandmother had Alzheimer's disease, and I know the burden that happened with the caregivers," she said. "So from that, I want to be sure to share and let them know that we have education in the Clinton community. We have support groups in the Clinton community."
The event began with an opening ceremony where participants were asked to raise their flowers sharing their connection to Alzheimer's. Some wrote the names of the people they were honoring on them. They then "planted" the flowers in the Walk to End Alzheimer's garden before embarking on the two mile walk along the Mississippi River.
"To see all of the people here today really just brings it all together, and lets us know that that we're doing good," Olsen said.
Over 6 million people in the U.S. over the age of 65 have dementia, and one in three seniors dies with it, numbers Olsen is hopeful they can lower with the help of fundraisers like this. However, the money goes to more than just research.
"It's helping us continue to provide free support groups, free education throughout the Clinton community," she said. "It helps us continue our research efforts. It helps us fund that 24/7 helpline, and then advocacy. We work with our legislators to let them know that this is a national priority."
She added that the goal is to reach $35,000 by the end of this year.
There is another Walk to End Alzheimer's Saturday, Oct. 2 in Moline at the TaxSlayer Center. Find more information on that walk here.