Walk to End Alzheimer’s draws thousands to Overland Park

Clemme Rambo has had the unpleasant experience of witnessing Alzheimer’s up close.

She saw the toll it took on her mother, Lavan Hill, who passed away after a battle with the disease, and on the collection of others in her family who have dealt with it over the years.

So this summer Rambo got an idea: Why not invite family members from across the country to join her in Kansas City for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

“I worked with the Alzheimer’s Association,” Rambo said. “I’d been to the walk, and I said, ‘Let’s form a team.’”

By any measure, the plan proved successful.

On Sunday morning, a sizable collection of relatives stood by her side at Overland Park’s Corporate Woods, among the 5,000 people who turned out for the event’s 25th version. There were Linda Lester and Karla Townson from the St. Louis area, Flo Muddy from Michigan. Vivian Thomas was there from Atlanta, and Andrea Townson was in from Houston.

They came, like various others, to honor those who have suffered from a disease that affects more than 5 million Americans and represents the sixth-leading cause of death in America.

It’s a disease that has also been particularly tough on women: Of the 5.4 million Americans suffering from Alzheimer’s, roughly two-thirds are female, according to Juliette Bradley, communications director for the Alzheimer’s Association’s Heart of America chapter. Also, most caregivers are women. One in six women in their 60s will suffer from Alzheimer’s — compared with one in 11 with breast cancer.

“Once you hear that, you’re kind of like, “Wow, this is a big deal,’” Bradley says. “And it is a big deal.”

Sunday’s walk, then, served a multitude of purposes. Put on by the Alzheimer’s Association, an organization dedicated to offering support and resources to those affected by Alzheimer’s, the event was part party, part fundraiser and part group therapy session.

On Sunday morning, friends Pat McGrath and Jean Hanson chatted fondly about the the support they received as their significant others battled Alzheimer’s. Both recently lost husbands who suffered from it, and both expressed appreciation not only for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, but the tight-knit group that those affected by the disease — at least in some form — have fostered.

The two women had met at an Alzheimer’s support group, forging a quick bond, and had become regular fixtures at the annual walk.

“I don’t see how anybody could go through this journey by themselves,” said McGrath, of Kansas City, Kan. “There’s too much to learn, and we all learn from each other.”

In all, Sunday’s Overland Park walk brought in roughly $500,000, according to an event spokesman, and the money raised — along with donations from similar events held in Topeka, Emporia, and Clinton, Mo. — will go toward everything from one-on-one counseling to educational workshops to access to library resources on the topic.

More than anything, though, it allowed thousands of people to gather for a morning and support their cause together.

“When you’re faced with something as devastating as this is,” Bradley says, “it’s nice to see people come together for many reasons — but for one cause.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2014 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Walk to End Alzheimer’s draws thousands to Overland Park."