Action On Alzheimer’s Charity Receives Donation
Action On Alzheimer’s & Dementia [AAD] is celebrating this weekend after the charity received a generous gift from a local retailer—and was also named beneficiary of Sunday’s first annual Goslings-Fairmont Road Race.
Furniture and homewares store Island Trading, owned by Gillian Farge and her daughter, Laura Farge-Lowe, made a $1,000 donation to AAD to help support the charity’s services for Bermuda residents living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
Island Trading owners Gillian Farge [left] and her daughter Laura Farge-Lowe present a cheque for $1,000 to AAD President Elizabeth Stewart
“We greatly appreciate the donation from Island Trading,” said AAD President Elizabeth Stewart. “These funds will go to support our programmes that assist those living with dementia in Bermuda, along with their families who struggle to cope with the disease.”
Registered as charity 929, AAD is dedicated to supporting people living with dementia and their families, along with advocating for quality care.
Among its services, AAD acts as a community liaison to government departments and care homes; provides dementia-specific training for those in healthcare settings; offers occupational therapy services, including safety assessments and care planning for families; identifies and helps those who are living alone with no caregiver or advocates; provides a dementia-specific activities programme and hosts monthly support group meetings for families.
“We chose Action on Alzheimer’s & Dementia as our charity for 2016 because it’s a cause which is really close to our hearts,” said Farge-Lowe.
“Liz has done an amazing job in raising Bermuda’s awareness about the disease, which is increasingly affecting our families and friends. Island Trading is delighted to be able to offer support, and we hope our donation will encourage other businesses to help Liz and her team develop dementia resources needed by our community.”
AAD was also named charity beneficiary for this Sunday’s inaugural Gosling’s to Fairmont Road Race—with $10 of every participant’s race fee donated to AAD.
The 7.2-mile event, for which Fairmont has been title sponsor since 1978, includes a junior, adult and relay component. The first official race of 2016, and considered a warm-up for January’s International Race Weekend, it’s expected to attract up to 300 competitors.
“We are so grateful to be selected to benefit from this landmark race,” said Stewart, “and we encourage as many runners as possible to participate to support our very worthy cause. AAD will also have several of its Board members and supporters taking part as well as volunteering their help along the course.”
The Gosling’s-Fairmont race starts at Gosling’s headquarters on Dundonald Street and continues down Cedar Avenue and Burnaby Hill to Front Street, along East Broadway and Harbour and Middle Roads to the Fairmont Southampton, and finishes at the resort’s beach club.
Alzheimer’s, which has no cure, is one of numerous types of dementia, and the most common. A progressive illness that destroys areas of the brain, it causes memory loss, confusion, and eventual loss of speech, understanding and movement. Worldwide, some 50-million people live with dementia—an estimated 1,000 in Bermuda alone.
For more information on AAD, please contact 707-0600 or alzbermuda@yahoo.com.
