To end Alzheimer's

COEUR d'ALENE - Leona's Love was created in honor of Della Van Valkenburg's mother.

It's a 12-person team comprising Coeur d'Alene resident Van Valkenburg, her daughter and other family members and friends. The team formed last year to raise awareness for Alzheimer's disease, the disease Van Valkenburg's mom Leona succumbed to in 2006.

"It's a really debilitating disease and you don't realize unless you're really connected to it with knowing somebody that's going through it ... just how awful it is," she said.

"Think about losing your mind. That's basically what you do," Van Valkenburg added.

Van Valkenburg's team was on the top of the team honor roll for raising not just awareness but more than $2,600 for Alzheimer's disease research. Leona's Love joined other teams and individuals for the Walk to End Alzheimer's, a 3-mile event which took place Sunday morning in Riverstone Park.

"It tends to be genetic," Van Valkenburg said. "All of us are scared that we'll go there, and don't want to."

The event began with the "Star Spangled Banner" and the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by sharing of stories, poems and reflections on the impact Alzheimer's has on its victims and their loved ones. Attendees intently listened, some with heads bowed, as they heard personal accounts similar to their own.

Sue Standley, 75, of Coeur d'Alene has been a volunteer with the Alzheimer's Association for 15 years. Standley's mother had Alzheimer's, and three people close to her have died from the disease in the last year and a half.

"One of them was so close to me," she said. She has two neighbors afflicted with Alzheimer's and makes sure to spend time with them.

Standley has been to previous Alzheimer's walks. She said it's the people and their stories that she enjoys most.

"It's such a good cause," she said. "It's just beautiful. I wish they could find a cure or something to help."

Pinwheel flowers were a prominent symbol of the event. A "promise garden" was created near the finish line, an area where the pinwheels were placed in buckets or stuck into the ground. Many had names written on them in remembrance of loved ones. Purple ones represented those lost to the disease, while the gold, yellow, and blue ones represented caretakers, advocacy and those living with Alzheimer's.

Joel Loiacono of Walla Walla is the executive director of the Alzheimer's Association Inland Northwest Chapter. He said the walk went great and that almost $40,000 had been raised by mid-morning. He also discussed the importance of Alzheimer's awareness and research as the number of victims continues to increase.

"We've got a tsunami," he said. "The first wave of the tsunami's already hit. We're already at 5.2 million people. When I first started (17 years ago) we had about 3.9 million. Unfortunately, I don't say this with any joy of us being right, but the projections were right on target right now for 16 million people with Alzheimer's disease by 2020."

The Walk to End Alzheimer's is a yearly event. Info: www.alz.org