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Date: 6/14/2023
SOUTHWICK — A family-friendly, fun community event in Southwick will celebrate the summer solstice on June 21 while also raising money and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association.
The fundraising event, “The Longest Day,” will be hosted by the Genesis HealthCare affiliated Heritage Hall Campus. The Agawam health and rehabilitation facility that offers post-hospital, dementia, dialysis and long-term care is partnering with the Alzheimer’s Association. Christ Lutheran Church in Southwick will provide the site since it offers more community visibility and access than the Heritage campus.
Stephanie Schellenger, dementia program director for Memory Support of Heritage Hall, an all-memory care community, is the lead event organizer in collaboration with key members of several other local Genesis-affiliated centers. She said the goal of the June event is to “jump start” fundraising efforts for the 2023 Pioneer Valley Walk to End Alzheimer’s, scheduled for Oct. 15 in Holyoke.
Last year marked the first big breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research in 30 years. According to the association, 130,000 people aged 65 and older in Massachusetts are living with Alzheimer’s.
“Our goal to raise $5,000. All money raised will support the Massachusetts-New Hampshire Chapter of the Association and contribute to the fight against a world without Alzheimer’s disease,” said Schellenger. “Now, more than ever, we must educate families and communities about ways to support their loved ones.”
The local event on the day with the most daylight is part of a worldwide “Longest Day” celebration for people to gather for the association’s second largest fundraising event in its fight against Alzheimer’s. This is the first local “Longest Day” event hosted by Heritage Hall and the association since the coronavirus pandemic. The first one, in 2019, raised $1,500.
About 100 people are expected at the event that runs from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., with a rain date of June 23. There will be raffles, craft vendors, food trucks, a children’s area, and a Zumba class. Zumba with local instructors will take place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Participating Genesis facilities — the Elaine Center at Hadley, Renaissance Manor on Cabot in Holyoke and the Westfield Center — will contribute baskets with “exciting themes” that will be raffled off. Raffle tickets will be $2 per ticket, three for $5 or an “arm’s-length” for $10. A variety of food trucks will serve pizza, burgers and paninis as well as Mediterranean and Spanish cuisine. Vendors contributed toward the event with donations to reserve a location.
Christ Lutheran Church is at 568 College Hwy., Southwick. For more information, contact Stephanie Schellenger at Heritage Hall, 413-333-2251.