Written by Juanita Fox
In Mountain View, a small team of residents and staff are engaging the broader New Holland community as well as their neighbors in Mountain View and other residents here at Garden Spot Village to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association.
Clinical Care Coordinator Janie Martin, with the help of resident Gladys Ziegenfus and staff members Cathy Bauer and Layla McEldorney, has been quietly raising funds for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, slated for Saturday, September 29 at Overlook Park in Lancaster.
In 2017, over the course of five months, a team of Mountain View residents raised $1,000 for Alzheimer’s awareness one candy bar, baked good and ebru dyed scarf at a time.
The entire Mountain View community participated. Staff baked cookies and brownies and Diane Pechart, personal care activity director, coordinated a group that made “the best” chocolate peanut butter and coconut eggs. The Mountain View Vision & Design Team created specially designed one-of-a-kind ebru dyed silk scarves. The team dyed the scarves purple, the official color of Alzheimer’s awareness, and through lots of trial and error, designed a unique heart shape on each scarf.
Janie says, “It was neat to see the residents who helped at the bake sale make connections with other individuals who stopped by to give a contribution and to share their own personal journeys in relation to the disease.”
Building on the bake and scarf sale success, Janie and Gladys attended the GALZ Night Out in Lancaster on Friday evening, May 12. The event was hosted by the Greater Pennsylvania Alzheimer’s Association and was held at the Community Room on King.
Gladys says, “The GALZ Night Out was quite something. They had wonderful food and we sold our scarves to people who attended.”
After the bake sale and GALZ event, residents were determined to reach their goal. They added a sale of Gertrude Hawk Chocolate to the fundraising list. Behind the scenes Janie kept the project moving, inspiring residents to stay engaged and brainstorm new ideas to raise funds. By mid-September they reached their $1,000 goal and a group of five residents attended the event, which was held in downtown Lancaster on September 23.
When April 2018 rolled around Janie challenged the team to double their donation to $2,000. They started by selling Gertrude Hawk Chocolate and sold 96 candy bars in less than two weeks. A bake and craft sale at Good’s Store in early August and raised an additional $436.
“For me the exciting part is to see Mountain View residents get involved in the baking, making crafts and helping at the stand,” Janie says. The outcome of the fundraiser was rewarding as they exceeded their expectations. “Each year we keep growing and evolving. The most awesome thing is the staff who show interest and the residents who keep getting involved. I love the brainstorming and the passion.”
With just four weeks to go, the team in Mountain View is working hard to raise the additional funds they need to reach their $2,000 goal.
Janie invites anyone to help with their Walk to End Alzheimer’s fundraising goal by making a donation on the team page here.