The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Milford family merges advocacy and baking for Alzheimer’s
MILFORD — The Cotton family of Milford witnessed first-hand how quickly a person’s mental health can change last year.
“My grandmother had passed away two weeks before Christmas last year. She went from living on her own at 94 years old, and after she fell and had a heart attack, she came out of the hospital different, and we realized it was dementia,” said Michelle Cotton. “She came to live with us, and she was a completely different person.”
Michelle Cotton, her husband Dominic and their son Michael are honoring Michelle’s grandmother, Stella Wiland, with a fundraiser Saturday and Sunday to benefit the Connecticut Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. The Cottons are conducting a pop-up pumpkin and apple juice stand, bake sale and jewelry and craft sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days at 60 Corona Drive.
Cotton said the inspiration for the popup sale came from a promotion they saw for the Alzheimer’s Walk.
“So Michael, said, ‘Why don’t we do a pumpkin juice stand?” Michelle Cotton said. “During the pandemic we started baking a lot and cooking a lot and he has a Harry Potter book, which is where the pumpkin juice comes from. It was supposed to be just pumpkin juice, but I said not everyone likes pumpkin, so let’s do apple juice as well.”
While they were discussing the sale, she said the ideas started getting bigger and bigger, and that’s how they ended up adding a bake sale, and a jewelry sale.
Cotton said they contacted the Alzheimer’s Association chapter to let them know they were doing a fundraiser and to see if they had any tips.
“A lady came right over within two days, and dropped off a boatload of stuff like fliers, banners, table cloths and T-shirts for us to wear,” Cotton said. “She told us what to do, and said she’s going to stop by as well.”
Dominic Cotton said he’s heard from the mayor, city aldermen and school board members that they will be coming to support the fundraiser.
Michael Cotton said his goal is to fundraiser
$500 for the Connecticut Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
“Hopefully I can put my footprint in the world,” he said.
Michelle Cotton said families dealing with dementia can be blindsided by the sudden intense needs of their loved ones, and the cost of care.
“Honestly, we were blinded so fast by my grandmother, that we didn’t realize it was going to be a dementia thing,” she said. “So we figured if this goes towards people who need services, who have no clue what they are getting themselves into and need help, that’s what really turned us to do the fundraiser.”
Michelle Cotton said the family is already getting donations from strangers on the team page.
“My grandmother would be so proud of Michael,” she said. “She would say we were crazy for doing all this just for her. She was always the type of person that said, you don’t need to do anything for me, do it for yourself.”
Dominic Cotton said advocacy is also a personal matter because Michael Cotton has a rare medical condition. So the family has also advocated for research and treatment of various illnesses, brain injury and more.
“We are trying to change the world,” said Michelle. “A little bit at a time.”