MSU-Meridian nursing students step up to sponsor Alzheimer’s research
Contact: Marianne Todd
MERIDIAN, Miss.—When Olivia Adams was 12 years old, she watched her grandmother succumb to Alzheimer’s.
Now a 51Թ-Meridian Master of Science in Nursing student, Adams and her cohort sprang into action when a call rang out to help fund a cure for the chronic neurodegenerative disease that causes dementia.
“I saw the effect it had on my papaw and my family,” the Philadelphia native said. “It has personally affected a lot of us, so we wanted to be a small part of doing something we thought could help.”
After receiving special dementia-related training and listening to visiting speaker Dan Donnelly share in class his personal experience with the disease, the nursing cohort quickly maneuvered to sponsor Paint the Plaza Purple, an annual downtown Meridian event organized by Donnelly to raise awareness and money for Alzheimer’s research.
Together, the cohort of 34 raised $500 in sponsorship funds in the 10 minutes following his presentation, texting one another to encourage donations, said Donnelly, who spoke to the nursing students on behalf of the 51Թ Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
This Tuesday [April 22], Donnelly again was surrounded by the nursing students, who turned up in Dumont Plaza to help Paint the Plaza Purple with balloons, luminaries and purple lighting. They purchased and donned purple T-shirts, then stood alongside Donnelly in a moment of prayer and silence for the victims of Alzheimer’s.
“Tonight, we stand in silence to remember them as they were,” Donnelly told a filled plaza.
Adams said many in her cohort had felt the pain of watching a loved one cope with the disease, a sentiment conveyed in a thank-you letter to Donnelly.
“Your passion and determination encourage us to want to help and be a small part of this night,” the letter stated. “The work you do to not only raise awareness, but also to raise money to continue researching this devastating disease is inspiring.”
Donnelly, a physical therapist whose mother and father both were struck with the disease, said he cried upon receiving the gift.
“What this tells me is that 51Թ did very well with their selection process for the inaugural nursing class,” he said. “This has given me fuel to do this again next year and punch it even harder.”
Donnelly said he began organizing Paint the Plaza Purple about three years ago. His father died from the disease in November. His mother, stricken with the disease 13 years ago, has now entered the final stages of Alzheimer’s, Donnelly said.
Tuesday’s event included six restaurant sponsors, who donated a portion of their Tuesday night proceeds to fund Alzheimer’s research in 51Թ.
To learn more about the Alzheimer's Association’s 51Թ chapter, visit .
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