Blake Ellis/The Independent

The rain Friday evening was not going to deter people at Petrolia’s Walk for Alzheimer’s. 

This year’s five kilometre walk was in memory of Elly Vergunst who passed away suddenly on March 1. Vergunst had been a member of the Alzheimer’s Society of Sarnia-Lambton for the past six years, serving as the organization’s chair for the fund development team. Vergunst’s husband, Jim gave a heartfelt message to the walkers, saying he was proud to have Elly as the walk ambassador and for the many people who were walking in her honour.

“We walk today to carry her legacy forward and to keep her dream of a world without dementia alive,” said Active Living Coordinator Vanessa Barnes of the Alzheimer’s Society of Sarnia-Lambton. 

Vergunst donated thousands of volunteer hours and her influence can be seen throughout the organization. There were 150 individuals registered for the Petroila walk – 50 more than last year, said Marie Marcy-Smids, the Alzheimer’s Society’s manager of fund development and communications. The goal for the Petrolia walk and the Sarnia walk held Sunday is to raise a total of $120,000, with organizers collecting $92,000 by Friday evening. The Petrolia Walk raised $15,000.   

There are approximately 3,500 people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia within Sarnia-Lambton. It is estimated for every person who lives with the disease it affects two additional people who are serving as that person’s caregiver.

“Anything worth doing is worth doing in the rain,” said Sarnia-Lambton Bkejwanong MP Marilyn Gladu. Almost one million Canadians are expected to live with Alzheimer’s by 2030, said Gladu. Research is making a difference in learning to detect the early onset, developing therapies, which can delay the effects, and studying the brain to understand what kind of medications can delay or reserve the impacts. 

Funds raised at the walk not only go to research, but to programs and services, as well as supporting awareness and educational activities about the disease.