The 2017 Laredo Walk to End Alzheimer’s kicks off with a meet and greet on Tuesday, August 8, at 6:30 p.m. at Charlie’s Corona at 3902 San Bernardo.
Organizers of the walk are inviting team captains, volunteers, participants, and sponsors of the 2016 walk to the event, as well as caregivers, healthcare professionals, and educators.
The 2017 walk will be staged once again at TAMIU on September 30. Onsite registration begins at 8 a.m. in the walkway between the Student Center and the University’s Fine and Performing Arts Center. The walk begins at 9:30 a.m. after a brief opening ceremony at 9 a.m.
Those who wish to register online and establish a fundraising team with family, friends, or co-workers can go to alz.org/walk and follow prompts to the Laredo walk.
The first-ever Laredo Walk to End Alzheimer’s in 2016 brought 700 participants to the quadrangle at Texas A&M International University for the morning event and raised $35,000 for Alzheimer’s research.
“We would very much like to exceed last year’s participation numbers and sponsors,” said Melissa Guerra, who has hosted the local Alzheimer’s Support Group since 2004. “We are inviting Laredo non-profits and health care providers to form teams and to staff a tent that tells their story or the services they offer,” she added.
She said that sponsors to date include ANB Cattle; Texas Community Bank; Falcon National Bank; IBC; Person, Whitworth, Borchers, and Morales; Staggs Cattle Company; Frank Architects; Don Juan International Foods; City Council member Charlie San Miguel; Toni Ruiz; and Killam Oil. KGNS and The Laredo Morning Times are media sponsors of the September 30 walk.
Guerra and Nydia Valadez are co-chairs of the 2017 walk. Both were the caregivers for their respective fathers who died of complications of Alzheimer’s.
“Forming teams is critical to the success of the walk. We are inviting family members who have been affected by Alzheimer’s to form teams, as well as educators who sponsor school organizations. Last year’s participants included Alzheimer’s patients. Their presence blessed the walk with an incredible energy and made us all the more determined to push forward this year,” Valadez said.
The Laredo Walk to End Alzheimer’s is held under auspices of the San Antonio and South Texas Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
For more information on the kick-off party and participation in the 2017 Laredo Walk to End Alzheimer’s, please call Guerra at (956) 693-9991 or Valadez at (956) 324-0013.
