I'm fundraising for...
We are honoring my grandpa Fred Gisler, who died at the age of 92 with unspecified dementia when I was a teenager. My grandfather was a gentleman, a jazz musician, a world traveler and a polyglot who earned his MBA and Masters of Public Health in a late career switch to lead fiscal affairs at Oklahoma's Department of Health and later came out of retirement to lead the Area Agency on Aging for the State of New Mexico. As he progressively began to lose his memory, he wrote an unpublished manuscript "Memory, Mind and Soul" that reflected on a search for meaning and truth of this experience.
It is in his honor, and in reflection of my own battle for my health and a career switch that more closely focuses on access, equity, and research (one that I am now realizing parallels his own) that I share this fundraiser. His own obituary from September of 2005 requests that donations be made to organizations conducting research in senile dementia - and so here, 20 years later, I hope that I can do that justice - in my work at the Association, and here in this small fundraiser.
The Alzheimer's Association is the single largest private funder of research on Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Care and treatment has improved profoundly since my grandfather's death. The Association provides quality care and support through their free 24/7 Helpline (800.272.3900), in-person and virtual support groups, education programs and more. It also empowers the Association to accelerate the world's most promising research toward treatment, prevention, and, ultimately, a cure.
