Alzheimer’s Foundation of America brings walk to Nassau County

They are walking for a cure at Eisenhower Park this year — a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America bringing its annual walk to Nassau County this year on Saturday, Sept. 9. Fundraising efforts center around enriching the lives of those with the disease, and creating hope for a future without it.

Bert Brodsky founded the group in 2002, a decade after he lost his mother to the disease after a 12-year struggle. Today, the foundation provides support, services and education to individuals, families and caregivers affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias worldwide. It also funds research for new treatments — and hopefully, one day, a cure.

This is the first time the East Meadow park is hosting the walk — something that had previously been held in the Town of Babylon, according to Chuck Fuschillo, the foundation’s president and chief executive who also is a former state senator. Eisenhower Park caught the attention of organizers after it opened a respite care area this past May.

The respite care park, Fuschillo said, serves many purposes.

“One, is for caregivers to go with the person they’re caring for in a beautiful setting,” he said. “It’s also for themselves, to avoid caregiver burnout. But it’s also educational — there are signs along the park that provide education about Alzheimer’s disease, and tips and strategies for caregivers.”

Signage also provides contact information for the foundation’s national helpline at (866) 232-8484, which connects callers to licensed social workers trained to help with situations that may arise when caring for Alzheimer’s patients.

The foundation’s national Walk in the Park weekend will include physical walks on Long Island, and on Sept. 10 in New York City’s Battery Park.

“We encourage people to participate in both walks, but we have walkers throughout the entire country that create their own walks and support the work of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America,” Fuschillo said. “So, we’re very appreciative of individuals doing this throughout the entire country on that weekend.”

The walk serves as a major fundraiser for some of the foundation’s programs and initiatives. For example, the organization recently finalized the purchase of a building in Amityville, which will become the its Long Island education and resource center. There, the foundation will offer daily therapeutic programs, dementia training to professionals and nonprofessionals in the health care industry, memory screenings and more.

“It will be one of the largest therapeutic and domestic training centers on the island,” Fuschillo said. “You know, this disease has affected so many people and it’s continually growing throughout Long Island — there’s more than 60,000 people living with it now. We want to make sure that we have support services for families. And we’re also providing hope with the research dollars that we provide.”

The foundation also funds research at Stony Brook University and NYU Langone, as well as the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health in Manhasset. Some of it includes finding new treatment for Alzheimer’s patients who experience hallucinations and agitation — work that takes place at Feinstein.

The foundation also provides scholarships to high school seniors across the country who submit essays detailing how Alzheimer’s disease has impacted their lives. To date, the foundation has awarded more than $450,000 to college-bound students.

Registration for the walk can be done so ahead of time at AlzFdn.org/walk. Individuals can register with a team or as a solo walker. They can also sign up on-site, the day of the walk.

This year’s goal is to raise $300,000, with nearly $85,000 already collected.

In-person registration opens at 9 a.m. at Field 6, located at 1899 Park Blvd.

The walk officially kicks off at 10.