GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - September is Alzheimer’s Month and 21 September is Alzheimer’s Day.

A relay race from Mossel Bay to Knysna will take place from 25 to 29 September.

Frank Hunt, whose wife has Alzheimer’s, and his team of eleven runners accompanied by five support members, has undertaken to run this “4 Passes” relay race. The Robertson, Swartberg, Meiringspoort and Prince Alfred passes are traversed in the race.

The purpose is to raise money for the Race to End Alzheimer's (REA) Project (under Alzheimer’s SA) and awareness of the prevalence of the disease in SA and the families battling to cope with caring for sufferers.

The team will be at the Santos Express train restaurant on Heritage Day, Sunday 24 September, at 16:00 and Mossel Bay residents are asked to arrive at the restaurant and show their support to the runners.

Wear bright yellow T-shirts - the Alzheimer's Association's signature colour - to show support.

Hunt and his team will be leaving at 04:30 on 25 September from Santos and will end their race at the Boardwalk in Knysna on 29 September between 13:00 and 14:00.

Funds raised will be used to render the following services:

• Awareness talks at churches and nursing homes to family members and carers of people suffering from dementia;

• Dementia care training to carers in dementia care facilities who could not otherwise afford training;

Home visits
Providing stipends and cellphone top-ups to 10 field workers in Soweto, Pretoria, Mamelodi, Atteridgeville and Johannesburg, who do home visits by assisting to wash patients and give advice on dementia care. These field workers have all been trained in dementia care.

Alzheimer's South Africa is BBBEE registered. It offers 18A Tax Certificates to all donors, which are issued for the purpose of Section 18 (A) of the Income Tax Act of 1962 as amended and state that the donation has been or will be used exclusively for the services rendered by Alzheimer’s South Africa.

View the Facebook page for more information on the Race to end Alzheimer’s.

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