MOSES LAKE — A record number of people turned out at McCosh Park on Sept. 19 to do their part in fighting dementia through the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

“We had a wonderful number of participants,” said Julie Reathaford, walk manager for the Alzheimer’s Association, who is based in Tri-Cities and organizes the Moses Lake walk. “We had more people than we’ve ever had.”

The number of participants on the Walk to End Alzheimer’s website is 236, but a lot of people registered the day of the event, Reathaford said. Those registrations had to be sent to Seattle to be processed, and the final numbers aren’t back yet. The same applies to the funds raised at the walk. The website showed $32,480 raised, or 72% of a $45,000 goal, as of Monday but donations are still coming in, Reathaford said, and will continue to until the end of the year.

“We still have donors who will donate around the holidays or with their retirement, and they’ll still count for the 2026 walk,” she said. 

For the first time this year, the Moses Lake walk included the American Legion, which fired a gun salute and played taps, Reathaford said. 

“It just set the tone,” she said. “A lot of veterans experience Alzheimer's and it was nice to honor them.”

Part of the event includes a plastic flower garden honoring people whose daily lives are impacted by dementia: blue for dementia patients themselves, yellow for caregivers, purple for those whose loved ones have passed and orange for everyone else who supports the fight. After all of those, there’s a single white flower, said Karisti Cox, Senior Living Sales Specialist for Brookdale Hearthstone, for someone who doesn’t yet exist.

“The white flower represents hope,” Cox said. “It represents the first survivor. We always have children holding the white flower, because they are the future.”

The Walk to End Alzheimer’s supplies about a fourth of the Alzheimer’s Association’s funding, according to the association’s website. The money goes primarily to research into early detection, treatment and perhaps one day, finding a cure for the disease.

About one in nine people 65 and older develop Alzheimer’s, according to the association’s website, and one out of three adults 85 and older will die with it or another dementia. 

The association is making strides in both early detection and heading off the onset of the disease, Reathaford said.

“Last year, we had (the U.S. Pointer) study, which was a huge study that allowed us to look at lifestyle,” she said. “Through those lifestyle studies, we found out that … things like eating right and exercising and sleeping and having social interaction, wearing a helmet when you ride a bike, not smoking, we kind of know now are proven to reduce (the risk of Alzheimer’s).”

Another study in Latin America backed up those findings, Reathaford added.

Last year the Food and Drug Administration approved a test for the biomarkers that can indicate the potential for Alzheimer’s, Reathaford said.

“It’s still not foolproof, but it’s a start,” she said. “I think as time goes on that will become better statistically as well. We’re really looking good as far as research and finding more information about the disease.”

Two new medications, called Lecanemab and Donanemab, are showing promise in treating Alzheimer’s if it’s caught early, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. They can’t actually prevent the disease, but they can slow its progression.

“It’s amazing where we’re at today in our medications and treatments,” Cox said. “Even 10 years ago we didn’t have these treatments. We had stuff that would treat the symptoms similar to taking cold medicine, but we never had anything that would actually treat the physical problem, and we do now. It’s not a cure, but it certainly is putting its foot on the brake.”

The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is still accepting donations for 2026. To donate, visit https://bit.ly/4yzC9eJ.

    The actual number of walkers at the Sept. 19 Walk to End Alzheimer’s won’t be known for a while, the walk manager said, because so many people registered the day of the event.
  

    The colorful flowers in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s flower garden represent those who suffer from dementia, those who have lost loved ones to it, those who care for dementia patients and those who just support the fight against the disease from the sidelines.