Over 100 Kayakers set to go round Washburn Island for the Washburn Challenge

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My sister Sara was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease in January of 2010.  She was a Yale graduate and got her doctorate from Harvard.  She was one of the nation's leading clinical psychologists for children.  Like many early onset patients she was misdiagnosed for a number of years, which caused tremendous hardship before the abrupt ending of an exceptional career.

Sara's doctor suggested I contact the Alzheimer's Association right after her diagnosis to access the services, education and community they offered.  Like many families, the Alzheimer's Association changed the trajectory of my families journey tremendously.

A year before she passed, In 2017, I started the Washburn Challenge, an Alzheimer's "Longest Day" event.  My sister and I grew up on Waquoit Bay in the summers and I thought getting family and friends together for a bike ride on one of the most beautiful coast lines and a kayak around Washburn Island, one of the most beautiful state parks on Cape Cod would be a wonderful way to honor my sister, share a great experience with family and friends, while creating awareness and raising money for a disease that is truly an epidemic.  That first year we raised $12,000.  Last year we raised $150,665 and since we began we have raised over $533,000 for the Alzheimer's Association.     

I care because I know personally what this disease does to families.  My increased involvement with the Alzheimer's Association since my sister's diagnosis, my experience as a board member here in New England, my participation in the Alzheimer's Advocacy Forum in Washington DC has absolutely convinced me that the Alzheimer's Association will have more to do with the first person to survive Alzheimer's than any other organization.  Because of the Alzheimer's Association and its mission there is more hope than ever before.  With two drugs approved and many promising on the way,  we are now in a new era - "The Age of Treatment", but there is much work left to do.

Thank you for your support and joining the fight to END ALZ - Stu McLeod

Alzheimer's Facts:

- The Alzheimer's Association funding for research is only greater from the government's of the United States and China.

- The Alzheimer's coordination of advocacy nationally has resulted in NIH funding going from $440M (where is was for nearly a decade) to $3.5B in 2022

- That same advocacy on the legislative level is also at the forefront of making meaningful change for the better and earlier diagnosis, more effective and humane care and availability of benefits for early onset patients.

- Only the Alzheimer's Association provides the support, care and community for patients, families and care-givers to the extent they do.

Help me support the many families facing this awful disease, as well as the mission of the Alzheimer's Association in honor of all those we have loved and lost. Thank you.

Over 100 Kayakers set to go round Washburn Island for the Washburn Challenge

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