THUNDER BAY — Roughly 100 people made loops around Chapples Park for the annual IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s on Saturday, which fundraised more than $31,000.
These walkers were some of the 150 people who registered to walk locally and, in the region, to raise vital funds for the Alzheimer’s Society of Thunder Bay to elevate its presence, expand its reach and provide even more services to the people that it serves in Northwestern Ontario.
“For about a decade IG Wealth Management has been involved in the Alzheimer’s walk,” said Michael Nitz, the financial group’s regional vice president.
“And today and tomorrow, there are actually thousands of people in hundreds of locations across Canada walking for the walk for Alzheimer’s. And really we see a growing need to promote products and services to families and individuals who are living with Alzheimer’s.”
As someone with family and friends impacted by Alzheimer’s, Nitz said he has been fortunate enough not to deal with it yet, but understands it is growing.
“I continue to hear stories, including this morning, of family and friends who’ve been living with Alzheimer’s and the tremendous support that’s needed from a community and their family to allow them to manage with Alzheimer’s,” said Nitz.
He said there are 700,000 people in Canada with Alzheimer’s right now, which is expected to double in the next 10 years with the aging population, so IG wants to ensure the right tools and mechanisms are in place for those individuals and their families.
This year, IG surpassed its $30,000 local target, its team raising $5000 in the morning alone, with more expected to come in afterwards regionally.
“It’s extremely important,” said Sharon Pitawanakwat, the Alzheimer’s Society of Thunder Bay's executive director, who was doing her part to try to make a difference.
“We’re not 100 per cent funded by provincial funds. We really rely on these donations throughout the year to allow us to provide necessary supports to individuals in the region and so without it, we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing.”
Pitawanakwat said there are about 260,000 people who are experiencing some form of dementia in Ontario and looking at demographics and the contributing factors towards dementia, there are quite a number locally who are “experiencing or will experience some form of dementia over the coming years.”
“There are often people who are suffering alone,” said Pitawanakwat.
“That’s part of what today is about… is to raise awareness that we’re here and even if someone has a concern and they’re not sure, they can give us a call and get the support that they need."
As part of these efforts, the walk featured commentaries from the honorary Hutsul family and other stakeholders before the walk began around Chapples Park.
“We wanted to make it accessible to everybody, so this is one of the reasons why we chose this location in particular and so people can walk once. They can walk twice. They can walk throughout the week,” said Pitawanakwat.
She added that the society also invited people to post their pictures to help them elevate awareness around the need for necessary services in the region.
Pitawanakwat thanked Thunder Bay and the region for such a great contribution to their cause.
