Mrs. North Carolina International speaks at Kiwanis Club of Mint Hill

The Official Kiwanis Club of Mint Hill Banner

Sharing my PURPLE PASSION 4 Alzheimer's work

(another speaking photo not so complimentary) LOL!

Tina, Joseph, Me, and Jack 

Program was printed especially in PURPLE

I was asked to be a guest speaker at the Kiwanis Club of Mint Hill June meeting Wednesday afternoon.  Joseph and I enjoyed a lunch during the meeting at a local town restaurant.  It was a small group, due to some members being out of town for the annual Kiwanis convention in Las Vegas.  Road trip.....not!

Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. Their members develop youth as leaders, build playgrounds and raise funds for pediatric research. We help shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, mentor the disadvantaged and care for the sick. Working together, members achieve what one person cannot accomplish alone. And along the way, club members share friendship and laughter.


I spoke as the members ate their lunch and this allowed me to have the opportunity to share my PURPLE PASSION 4 Alzheimer's work.  My part of the program soon became a very cleansing conversation.  Some of the members spoke up and shared their experience from a family member's perspective whose loved ones had been afflicted by Alzheimer's disease.

Jack began to tear up as he spoke highly of his mother Margaret Gragiamo and he was deeply saddended by his loss.  He had to intervene with his family when his mother became very ill and depressed from Alzheimer's.  He knew that it was time for his mother to be placed in a home that would be qualified to take care of her.  Jack with strength had to convince his family members this fact.  "They wanted to just let her be by herself.....all alone at her home.  It was important to remove her from her normal surroundings to one that was nurturing that included a stimulating environment as she progressed with Alzheimer's disease."  Jack's mother began to show the signs of Alzheimer's at the age of 72 and she lost her battle with the disease at age 82.

PURPLE PASSION 4 Alzheimer's is concerned with the "Quality of life" for an Alzheimer's patient and their Caregiver.

Kiwanis
http://sites.kiwanis.org/Kiwanis/en/home.aspx

Event Fashion ~ Flow by Tara Davis
http://www.flowbytaradavis.com/

PURPLE PASSION 4 Alzheimer's
http://www.pp4alz.org/

Mrs. North Carolina International
Cynthia Griner