‘Sea of Flowers’ fighting for a cure at Walk to End Alzheimer’s

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - On Saturday morning, the Alzheimer's Association of South Dakota hosted its annual Walk to End Alzheimer's in Sioux Falls .

The event raised money to support the work the association does to advocate, care, support, and research.

"It's an inspirational day. It's by far the most hopeful time we've ever had with this disease and today was a culmination of that," said Alzheimer's Association of South Dakota Executive Director Leslie Morrow.

Hope might be just around the corner.

It's been a long fight for everyone with the Alzheimer's Association, including Morrow.

"This is my eleventh year with the Alzheimer's Association and when I started, we didn't have a way to change the course of this disease. We were only treating the symptoms and that changed about a year and a half ago, two years ago and now we have treatments that get at the underlying cause of this disease," Morrow explained.

Alzheimer's Disease impacts thousands of families across the state of South Dakota, best visualized by the flowers in the crowd.

A garden represented people who care for loved ones with the disease, lost a loved one to the disease, are living with it, or were there to support the cause.

Dr. Lucas J. Hamilton lost his grandmother to Alzheimer's right as he began studying aging in graduate school.

He has since devoted his time to volunteering and raising money for the association, becoming part of the " Champions Club " on Friday night.

"I think about, obviously, losing my grandmother and I don't want my kids to have that same story with their grandparents or their kids to have that story with me. As somebody who studies this disease, the value of a community coming together, working towards a cure cannot be understated," Dr. Hamilton explained.

Looking through a sea of purple shirts and flowers raised high, there was optimism that the momentum could lead to a cure.

A white flower symbolized the first survivor.

"It tells me that it's not just my story, that it's a collective story that we all have and if you look around, it's why we're all here," Dr. Hamilton said.

Morrow and Hamilton know that this moment was important, but it could be just the start of hope springing up from the ground they marched on.

"We have entered into the era of treatment. It's a new day," Morrow said. "It's a transformational time and everybody that was here today that donated to this cause that raised awareness, they're all a part of that."

Morrow mentioned that the attendance for the 2024 Sioux Falls Walk to End Alzheimer's could potentially be a record.

The fundraising goal for the Alzheimer's Association is $333,000 by the end of the year.