Fargo-Moorhead community walks to raise funds and awareness to help end Alzheimer’s disease

"This walk lets people struggling with dementia know that they are not alone"

WEST FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – The Red River Valley Fairgrounds hosted one of the largest fundraisers for The Alzheimer’s Association across the country;, raising nearly $100,000 dollars to help advance critical care, support and research for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Kyle Olson, the Co-Chairman of the walk, is an active member of the organization. He says he   supports the mission as much as possible because it helped his father when he was struggling with Dementia. He even donates a portion of his commission to the organization. 

“This organization helped me out when my dad was suffering from dementia. He passed away two years ago; towards the end it was really great to be able to reach out to the 800-number as we were trying to figure out what to do with him in some situations. They were able to help walk us through situations, like how to redirect him and his memory a little bit.”

Another participant at the event, Jack Yakowicz, is also passionate about the mission of the organization. He helped fundraise a large portion of money after writing a song about his grandmother with Alzhiemers. 

“I wrote a song about my grandma and my relationship with her and got some of my friends and family in the know about what our relationship looked like in the final stages of her life and put that together, wrote a couple blogs, put it out on social media, and with the power of social media we were able to raise about $2,500 in two days. 

Olson says that this walk helps support people affected by the disease. 

“I feel like a lot of people when they are going through dementia they feel like they are alone and being out here and seeing that there are 300, 500 people that are going through this as well, really helps build that community. They are not the only ones struggling with this and they are able to have some support.”