“On the seventh day of giving, my law firm gave to me,
Alzheimer assistance.”
Alzheimer Society of Canada
For our seventh day of giving, we are very happy to be donating to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
Established in 1978, the Alzheimer Society was actually the first organization of its kind in the entire world. With only $100 as an initial deposit in to the group’s bank account, forty-five people attended the inaugural meeting.
Today, more than $53 million has been invested in research through society programs, and over 25,000 Canadians participated in the Walk for Alzheimer's fundraising event in 2017.1
One important thing to point out is that the Alzheimer Society does more than just focus on one disease. Alzheimer's is just an example of a variety of dementias that the Canadian population and healthcare system needs to deal with. Currently there are over 500,000 Canadians living with some form of dementia, which corresponds into an estimated $10.4 billion in healthcare costs.2 Depsite the great work being done by a lot of great minds to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, there is still no known cure.
While the Alzheimer’s Society continues to pursue the discovery of both the cause and cure for dementias, they are also working tirelessly to develop new treatments and strategies for increasing the care and quality of life for those living with one of these mind-altering diseases. The Alzheimer Society Research Program (ASRP) is the flagship program that has been operating for 30 years to award funding to top researchers in fields focusing on both biomedical and quality-of-life projects. In 2017-18, it provided $3.4 million to 24 different researchers.3
Also, the Alzheimer’s Society has gathered a vast amount of resources and information to help educate, support, and counsel people based on their relationship with the Alzheimer and dementia:
Shannon Hussey, one of our administrative assistants, has identified this charity as the one she supports due to her family being intimately familiar with the effects of Alzheimer's. 1 in 5 Canadians have experienced or or currently responsible for caring for someone who is living with a form of dementia, and 87% of those caregivers wish that more people understood the realties of the responsibilities required to fill that role.4
Unfortunately, 1 in 4 Canadians admit that they would feel ashamed or embarassed if they were diagnosed with dementia.5 This stimga surrounding these types of diseases needs to change if there is to be any hope of getting proper help to those suffering.
For more information or to make a donation, please see below: