Walk to End Alzheimer’s, families dealing with disease

The second annual southeastern Idaho Walk to End Alzheimer’s was Saturday. The fundraising goal of $85,000 was reached for the southeastern Idaho area.

The walk is a chance to come together to raise money to stop a disease that affects one person in the United States every 66 seconds. The gathering of 500 people in Idaho Falls was a reassuring sight for some.

“It’s pretty nice, because otherwise you feel like you’re by yourself and its not a very fun thing to deal with,” said Marie Butcher, the wife of man with Alzheimer’s disease.

Teams of families proudly wore uniform T-shirts and carried banners and signs to represent the person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The Butcher family was one of them.

“It makes me feel good that we have support, and so many people from the community are here. It just give us support and its very comforting,” said Steve Butcher, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease two years ago.

There are many reasons why people walk: for a loved one, for family, for a friend or just for the cause.

“My dad works for assisted living and he has people with the Alzheimer’s disease. Also, our great-grandma recently died with it, which is sad. So we said, ‘We can do this and support it and try to get rid of it so scientists can keep going,” said Jack Rasmussen, a boy who’s family is affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

If you missed the walk, you can still donate to help fund research on Alzheimer’s disease by clicking here.