Submitted by Steve Atkinson, 10News Anchor

For the last couple of years I have had the honor of working with an organization called the Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers. This weekend I will be emceeing an event to benefit the organization’s three Family Care Centers located in San Diego County.

Before I tell you more about the Glenner Centers, I wanted to give you a few numbers to think about. It may be hard to believe but according to the Alzheimer’s Association every 71 seconds someone develops Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s also estimated that 10 million baby boomers, the largest growing part of our population, will develop Alzheimer’s disease over the next couple of decades.

Alzheimer’s is a disease that robs the brain of memory, reason, and ultimately life. It’s also important to know that 80 percent of those who have Alzheimer’s live at home. Now just imagine those family members, friends, and volunteers who provide care for these individuals and the number of people affected by this devastating disease grows exponentially.  

That’s where the Glenner Family Centers offers it’s “Sharing the Caring” program that helps so many people in San Diego. Dr. George Glenner was a researcher who spent his life trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. He made major discoveries about the disease but the battle continues. However, what Dr. Glenner and his wife Joy may have accomplished most was a way to provide assistance for those who give care to loved ones with Alzheimer’s. They founded the Glenner Centers which serve as a daycare program for those with Alzheimer’s disease. Each center is staffed with a registered nurse and a 5:1 patient to staff ratio. The three centers here in San Diego are so successful they have become the model for other centers like them across the country. And more importantly they provide relief and piece of mind for those who sometimes must provide 24 hour care to their family members.

I encourage you to find out more about the Glenner Centers by visiting their own website at www.alzheimerhelp.org. There are a number of needs the organization has for donations as well as volunteers. I think you will find the work and the care provided by The George G. Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers a very worthy cause.

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