Everyone has a reason to end Alzheimer’s, including four-year-old Lilly Myers of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Her great-grandmother or “Nanny,” Patty Lewis, 82, is one of the more than 5 million Americans living with the disease.
To honor Nanny, Lilly is participating in the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s® — the world’s largest event to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease — in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania. But the preschooler isn’t just walking; she’s the top fundraiser for the 80-plus-person Nanny’s Team, made up of Lewis’s family and friends.
In 2013, the inaugural season for Nanny’s Team, the then-three-year-old Lilly raised $250. “She would get excited each time we logged in [to her online participant center] and the status bar denoting her level of money had been colored in more,” said Lilly’s mother, Amy Myers.
Lilly went door to door asking for donations. Her solicitation was simple: “My name is Lilly and I am doing a charity walk for Alzheimer’s, would you like to sponsor me?”
This year, Lilly has raised more than $2,900 and set a goal of receiving a donation from every state. As the funds came in from around the country, she colored in the corresponding states on a United States map. On Aug. 16, Lilly excitedly shaded in her last state, Vermont. She also listed her international donations — those from Canada, Germany and Australia — on the side of her map.
“When asked what the money is for, Lilly will tell you that it’s for people who are sick with Alzheimer’s disease. She will tell you that sometimes Nanny forgets her name or that she already gave her hugs and kisses, but she knows that Nanny never forgets that she loves her,” Myers said. “As Nanny slips away from us, it’s heartwarming to know that Lilly is old enough that she’ll always have a memory of her time with Nanny.”
To supplement their fundraising efforts, Lilly and her cousins held a lemonade stand at festivals and farmers markets in their community. The children split more than $1,000 in proceeds, each applying a share to their individual fundraising total.
At $30,000 and counting, Nanny’s Team is the top fundraising team for the Carmichaels Walk to End Alzheimer’s, which took place on Sept. 6. All funds will help advance the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer’s Association. Each year, with the help of more than 400,000 participants at events in over 600 communities nationwide, the Association moves closer to realizing its vision of a world without Alzheimer’s disease.
To learn more about Alzheimer’s disease or to get involved with the cause, visit alz.org or call 800.272.3900.
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