Greenwich event to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association

GREENWICH — Ginge Cabrera knows the horrors of Alzheimer’s all too well. The Greenwich resident lost her mother, grandmother and uncle to the disease. One of six children, she and her siblings have all wondered whether it’s in store for them, too.

Greenwich residents Eleni Henkel and Mary Jo Riddle both lost their mothers to the disease.

“Nothing mattered more to my mom than family and her loved ones,” Henkel said. “To watch her slowly slip away from those she loved and treasured throughout her life was devastating.”

Their experiences with the disease brought them to the Connecticut Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. For several years, Cabrera chaired its local fundraising gala. Henkel and Riddle chair this year’s event. To be held May 11 at the Belle Haven Club, the Celebrating Hope event will be hosted by NBC’s Natalie Morales and Sage Steele from ESPN. The issue also hits close to home for Morales, whose mother-in-law has Alzheimer’s.

There are 5.8 million people with Alzheimer’s or dementia in the United States, including more than 78,000 in Connecticut alone.

“What sets apart the Alzheimer’s Association apart from all of the other wonderful groups out there with us in this fight is that they provide such a huge care and support piece of that fight,” Cabrera said. “It is the largest organization in raising money and ranks only behind the United States and China in funding research. But there is so much more going on.”

But the care and support component of the association’s work is important to Cabrera and others. It has formed what it calls GAP groups — short for Giving Alzheimer’s Purpose. These support groups are for people with the disease as well as caregivers, giving them a judgment-free zone to discuss their experiences and difficulties.

“That is an incredible resource for people who are going through this,” Cabrera said.

The services also include a 24/7 hotline, which Cabrera said is invaluable in helping to raise awareness about the harrowing disease. The more people know about the Alzheimer’s Association and all of its services, Cabrera said, the better.

“It’s been invaluable in raising awareness and understanding of the depth and breadth of Alzheimer’s disease,” Cabrera said. “The more we get the word out and show that this is not a disease to be ashamed of or to hide from. This is a disease to be tackled. The Alzheimer’s Association is an invaluable tool to get people more aware.”

Another arm of the organization is the Alzheimer’s Support Movement, which brings awareness of the disease to Washington, D.C., to get more federal funding for research.

The gala will also feature remarks from Erin Harris, a Simsbury resident whose husband was diagnosed at the age of 43 with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, which affects his personality, behavior and language. The condition takes away “what makes you, you,” Harris said. And it robbed them of the life they had planned and his chance to be a father to their son.

After speaking at the Alzheimer’s Association’s fall event in Hartford, she was invited to come to Greenwich, too. Her goal is to raise awareness of what is known more commonly as FTD.

“Like Alzheimer’s, FTD does not discriminate,” Harris said.

The gala is a big step forward for the Alzheimer’s Association. It started out as a small cocktail party that surprisingly raised $100,000 in just two hours. In the years since, the event has grown and Celebrating Hope has raised more than $1.7 million.

Tickets for the gala are available online at www.alz.org/ct or by calling 860-828-2828. It will include cocktails, dinner and music from DJ April as well as a silent and a live auction. Attendees are encouraged to wear purple — the signature color of the Alzheimer’s Association.