Alzheimer's Association Southeastern Virginia Chapter

WHO’S IN YOUR CIRCLE?

Do you have a great idea for The Longest Day and want to get more people involved? Think about all the people whose lives you touch and ask them to join you in the fight against Alzheimer’s. Here are some tips to help identify potential volunteers, participants, and donors. Before you know it, you’ll have a whole list of people to ask for support!

At work:

Reach out to Human Resources and ask the company would they support a “give back” or “volunteer” day so employees can participate in The Longest Day?
Give a brief talk at the next staff meeting to let people know about your plans for The Longest Day.
Start a competition with other departments to see who can recruit the most team members or raise the most money.
Host a lunch-and-learn or bake sale to raise awareness and funds.
Ask your company to match donations made toward your campaign.

Your membership organization:

Reach out to the membership director of philanthropy Chair to let them know about your plans for The Longest Day and ask for member participation.
Speak up at your next chapter meeting to let people know about your plans for The Longest Day.
Ask if there is an opportunity to be featured in our organizations’ newsletter or blog and share your story there, asking others to join you or to donate.

Gym, yoga or fitness studio:

Request to speak with the manager or get their contact information. Ask if they would promote The Longest Day or donate a portion of a day’s class or membership fees to your campaign.
Post a flier or poster on a bulletin board and add a link to your page.
Wear your Longest Day t-shirt. You’d be surprised how often people stop and ask about it.

At school, in your community or place of worship:

Post a flier or poster on a bulletin board and add a link to your page.
Host a bake sale or lemonade stand to spread the word and recruit supporters.

It’s just that easy. Ready, set…GO!

Register for The Longest Day

Selecting an activity for The Longest Day

Select an activity

Some ideas to get you started:

Facts and figures to help raise funds and awareness

Here are some important facts to know and share as you participate in The Longest Day:
• Worldwide, an estimated 47 million people are living with dementia.
• The annual global cost of dementia is an estimated $818 billion in U.S. dollars.
• The number of people living with dementia worldwide is set to skyrocket to 75 million
by 2030.
• Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States.
• More than 5 million Americans are living with the disease.
• More than 15 million family and friends provide care to people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias in the United States.
• Every 66 seconds, someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s.
• In 2015, friends and family of those with Alzheimer’s provided an estimated 18.1 billion hours of unpaid care, a contribution valued at $221.3 billion.
• In 2016, Alzheimer’s and other dementias will cost the United States an estimated $236 billion. This number is expected to rise to $1.1 trillion by 2050.

How to build a great team

“Teamwork makes the dream work.” A little cheesy, you say? It is, but in order to get anything worthwhile done, it takes a group of people with a like-minded goal. That’s a TEAM! Your goal is to create the best team imaginable and to raise funds to #ENDALZ. Here are three tips to help you create the BEST TEAM EVER!

ASK YOUR BFF
If you haven’t already, now is the time to start asking people to join your team. Your best friend who you can always count on for a good time? Ask her. Your co-worker who you spend every lunch hour with? Ask him. Your boss, your cousin, your partner … all the people that you interact with every day …ask them to join your team.

KICK it off with a PURPLE PARTY
People have said they want to join your team, so now it’s time to play party host. The best way to kick off anything fun is with a party! Post an invitation to your Purple Party on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. Don’t forget to include the time, date and location. Let them know they’ll be treated to lots of great food. Feed them and they will come!

Now is the time to brainstorm with folks about possible fundraising activities. And, if they’re not already signed up for your team, help them do that at your party. Make sure they know how to use their Participant Page to send emails to their friends and family asking for donations.

KEEP GETTING TOGETHER!
It’s important to keep your team excited about The Longest Day. Keep talking about it. If your team is local, then get together often to plan and share fundraising ideas. If you have an Anywhere Team (a team with members from across the country or around the world), you can do the same by sending an email to the entire team once a week or by scheduling a call on Skype or on Google Hangout.

IMPORTANT
Your team will follow your lead. The more enthusiastic you are, the more excited they’ll be and the more successful everyone’s experience will be!

About The Longest Day
The Longest Day® is an event to raise funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association®. Held annually around the date of the summer solstice, the duration of this sunrise-to-sunset event symbolizes the challenging journey of those living with the disease and their caregivers. Teams are encouraged to create their own experience as they fund raise and participate in an activity they love to honor someone facing the disease.

Register for The Longest Day

Need a last minute holiday gift?

Are you still looking for a great holiday gift? Here’s the perfect gift for the cook in your family or circle of friends.

Members of Sentara Center for Health and Fitness in Hampton submitted their favorite recipes to be featured in a 30th Anniversary Cookbook. The books are selling for $20.00 and proceeds will benefit our 2017 The Longest Day campaign.

The books are in, so call the Health and Fitness Center at 766-2658. The staff will let you know the best time to pick up your book. The Center’s address is 4001 Coliseum Drive, Hampton 23666.

Christine Warfel, Development Coordinator with the Alzheimer’s Association is pictured here seated beside Teresa Dorsey (L-R Back) Jeanette Grase, and Marilyn Paul.

Four Tips for Telling Your Story

“My aunt was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and I want to help…”

“My sorority sisters invited me to participate in this awesome event…”

“My dad loved music and I want to honor his memory by singing with friends all day…”

Everyone has a story about why they signed up for The Longest Day. Whatever your story is, SHARE IT! It will make a big difference when asking others to join your team and support your fundraising efforts.

Here are a few tips on creating a compelling fundraising page that you’ll be excited to share with friends and family.

Start with why you’re participating and who you’re honoring.

Let people know about your personal connection to the cause – even if you don’t have an immediate one.

Give the details about your team’s activity or activities.

Are you running all day? Climbing a mountain? Playing in a bridge tournament? Cooking all day? Baking? Reading? Let people know what to expect so they can decide how to best support you.

Share where their money goes.

Donors like to be sure their gifts will be used in a fiscally responsible manner. Funds raised through The Longest Day advance the care, support, and research of the Alzheimer’s Association.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so add one!

Add a photo of yourself, your team, or the person you’re honoring to brighten your page.

To update your page: Log in to your Participant Center (check your email for your login info) and click on “My Page”. You can add a photo of yourself or the person you’re honoring, update the text on the page, and create a shortened link to your page to share with friends and family. Remember to save your work often!

Team Captains: You’ll have your own “personal page” as well as a “team page”. We recommend telling your story on your personal page, and use the team page to share a photo of your team or activity and an overview of what your team will be doing on The Longest Day.

Event Hosts: Tell your story, share your photo or that of the person you’re honoring, and share all the details about your event.

About The Longest Day

The Longest Day® is an event to raise funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association®. Held annually around the date of the summer solstice, the duration of this sunrise-to-sunset event symbolizes the challenging journey of those living with the disease and their caregivers. Teams are encouraged to create their own experience as they fund raise and participate in an activity they love to honor someone facing the disease.

Register for The Longest Day

Why I Walk Wednesday with Janet Eubank

We are walking in the Walk to honor my mother; Jean Emmel who suffered from Alzheimer’s for 10 years. She always had a smile on her face even when she wasn’t sure just who I was and thought my children who have grandchildren of their own were still young at home. Mother passed away in 2015. We don’t want anyone else to forget who they are or who we are, so join us in our fight against Alzheimer’s.

Janet Eubank, team captain of Jean’s Winners
Coastal Virginia Walk

How to register for The Longest Day

To get started, select an activity you love

Choose something you love — or honor a caregiver, someone living with Alzheimer’s, or someone you’ve lost by selecting his or her favorite hobby. From swimming to scrapbooking, you’re limited only by your imagination.

Choose a way to participate

Start or join a team, host an event, or register as an individual. Choose the way that works best for you! Have friends and family across the globe that want to join you? Start an Anywhere Team.

Registration donation

Register now through February 28 and your registration donation is only $15. Beginning March 1, registration donation is $20. Only team captains pay the registration donation, the registration donation is not required to join an existing team. Hold your activity anytime you like, anywhere you like. Don’t wait, get started today!

About The Longest Day

The Longest Day® is a team event to raise funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association®. Held annually around the date of the summer solstice, the duration of this sunrise-to-sunset event symbolizes the challenging journey of those living with the disease and their caregivers. Teams are encouraged to create their own experience as they fund raise and participate in an activity they love to honor someone facing the disease.

Why I Walk Wednesday with Stephen Opitz

I’m walking in honor and memory of my grandfather, Robert Painter, to help reclaim the future for millions. My grandfather was a brilliant man who unfortunately lost his battle with Alzheimer’s three years ago. By participating in the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s, I’m committed to raising awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s research, care and support so we can find a cure and stop losing so many amazing people to this terrible disease.

Currently, more than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s and that number is expected to grow to as many as 16 million by 2050. Our future is at risk unless we can find a way to change the course of this disease.

Please join me and other Princess Anne High School students, families, and friends and walk in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s and if you are able, PLEASE make a donation to help the Alzheimer’s Association advance research into methods of treatment, prevention and, ultimately, a cure for Alzheimer’s.

Coastal VA Walk
Stephen Opitz, team captain
PAHS Brain Trust

Launching Rockets for The Longest Day

Trevor Leggette is launching model rockets to help #ENDALZ.

For The Longest Day 2016 campaign, Trevor’s Altitude for Alzheimer’s team raised $2,555.00. He has already registered his team for the 2017 campaign and, as a member of the South Eastern Virginia Rocketry Association (SEVRA), he works on honing his skills by participating in the club’s twice monthly launches.

An 8th grader at Gildersleeve Middle School in Newport News, Trevor became interested in model rockets about one year ago. He has since turned his hobby into a Longest Day activity after losing his maternal great-grandfather to a form of dementia and researching Alzheimer’s impact on the lives of the individuals and families who live the longest day every day.

About The Longest Day

The Longest Day® is a team event to raise funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association®. Held annually around the date of the summer solstice, the duration of this sunrise-to-sunset event symbolizes the challenging journey of those living with the disease and their caregivers. Teams are encouraged to create their own experience as they fund raise and participate in an activity they love to honor someone facing the disease.

Volunteer Spotlight – Allen Perry

Allen has dedicated the past 10 years to building the Virginia Beach Project Lifesaver Program. This is the largest program of its kind in the nation, having grown from serving 30 clients to over 340 clients today.

In the early stages of the program, Allen worked with our Chapter’s Programs Department training police officers and volunteer coordinators working in the field to recognize the signs of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. As the program grew, he and other officers began utilizing the memory fax referral program to educate families about our Chapter’s resources. That continues to this day.

When Project Lifesaver representatives are working at community events, they display our Chapter’s brochures and resource information. And, Allen has attended numerous Walks to End Alzheimer’s, Parrot Head Beach Ball Charity events, as well as our Reason to Hope breakfasts.

Most recently, Allen has been transferred from the Project Lifesaver Program to working within the Virginia Beach Crime Prevention Unit on other safety issues. While he is no longer the primary point of contact for the program, Allen continues to train recruits at the police academy about Alzheimer’s and dementia. His is a true advocate for our cause.

Thank you, Allen for your many years of service and dedication to those individuals and families in our community who are living with the challenges of Alzheimer’s every day.