$145K raised in 2023 Walk to End Alzheimer’s Coachella Valley event

Palm Desert's Civic Center Park was filled with a lot of smiles and colorful flowers on Saturday for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer's event.

"We're celebrating caregivers, and those who are going through the journey and letting them know we're offering them support," said Walk organizer, Janie Bark. 

84 teams and more than 300 participants walked to raise money for Alzheimer's care and research along with free local support programs for people with the disease and their caregivers. Many caregivers are unpaid family members who themselves need support to deal with added stresses, due to the disease.

"This is our fundraiser and allows us to fund all the programs we offer to the valley for no charge," said Bark adding the event, "also funds research so we can find an end to this disease."  

The flowers people carried during the event all had meanings. Orange was for supporters. Purple represents those who've lost someone from the disease. Yellow flowers are for someone who's a caregiver, and blue flowers are for those who are living with Alzheimer's. 

"We offer care and research, and we offer programs of support from field trips to art and music and all kinds of things for those who are going through the disease to make it a little bit easier," said Bark, "and caregiver essential programs for caregivers which is very important and we want to support them."

Saturday's walk event raised $145,000 for the organization. Next year's walk event is already being planned for next fall.

You can find out more about the 2023 Walk to End Alzheimer's and make a tax-deductible donation on the act.alz.org website.