This past April 26th, our own KaylaAnn Kandy, former Jim Thorpe Area High School FBLA President, hosted a walk in the Penn Forest Park that was meant to spread awareness of Alzheimer’s, a brain disease that affects millions of Americans every year. Alzheimer’s strips you away from your memory and cognitive abilities, while also being the leading cause of dementia, and there is unfortunately no cure. Kandy stepped up to the plate in addressing this debilitating disease by hosting this walk for her FBLA Capstone Project with the Alzheimer’s Association. Kandy worked tirelessly for months planning and executing this walk, alongside volunteers delegated into several different committees, leading to the walk being a huge success with nearly 100 attendees! Despite the chilly weather, members of the community showed up loud and proud, helping Kandy not only achieve her financial goal for the walk, but surpass it, raising a grand total of $6,201 for the Alzheimer’s Association! This amazing turn-out couldn’t have been possible without the support of the community, and also several sponsors that donated or supplied items to contribute towards 46 baskets for the raffle that took place. Besides the walk and basket raffle, there was also a bake sale and chili cook-off, as well as a 50-50 raffle. All of the baked goods and chili were generously provided by our community, and we couldn’t be more grateful for their support! However, this walk wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. We plan to make this into an annual tradition as we recognize the lives that an Alzheimer’s diagnosis can negatively affect and would like to see nothing more than our efforts and time as a community and FBLA chapter be put towards such a valuable cause and help bring people together in solidarity.
Jim Thorpe Walks for Alzheimers
