Painting the Town Purple: NHC Focuses on Alzheimer’s Research Fundraising
For Immediate Release: September 4, 2013
Contact: Gerald Coggin, Sr. VP of Corporate Relations
Phone: (615) 890-2020
MURFREESBORO – The Rutherford County Courthouse in downtown Murfreesboro is bathed in purple light each night this week and purple ribbons decorate downtown storefronts, part of a strong local fundraising effort for the Alzheimer’s Association. National Healthcare Corporation is a big part of that effort nationally, and especially in here in the town NHC has called home for 42 years.
Employees and friends of NHC, which operates assisted living centers and skilled-nursing facilities across the country, have already raised more than $50,000 nationally through the Walk to End Alzheimer’s fundraising program this year. That total includes the more than $31,000 raised in NHC’s hometown, where more than 400 people on NHC’s 2013 team will join the large crowd at this year’s Rutherford County Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Saturday morning at Murfreesboro’s Gateway Island Park. The walk begins at 8:30 a.m., Saturday.
“More than any other disease, Alzheimer’s impacts both our company and many of our employees on a daily basis,” said Melinda Vance, NHC’s liaison to the national Alzheimer’s Association. “As a company, we take care of hundreds of Alzheimer’s patients in our skilled nursing facilities and specialized Alzheimer’s units, while many NHC employees also have parents or grandparents who are suffering from this terrible illness.”
More than 5 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s, including an estimated 200,000 people under age 65. It is estimated that up to 16 million will have the disease by the year 2050.
“NHC deals with the reality of Alzheimer’s every day across the country – it touches the lives of thousands of our residents, and many of our employees had or have family members who suffered from the disease – and we as a company are committed for the long-term to the fight to find a cure,”
Vance said.
Across the country, NHC employees, friends and family are participating in Alzheimer’s Walks this month, under the slogan “One Company for One Cause for One Cure.”
Judy Powell, NHC’s Senior Vice-President for Patient Services, says many NHC employees “also have mothers, fathers or grandparents with Alzheimer’s, so we see the devastating effects both from a professional as well as a personal perspective. These Walks will help fight Alzheimer’s disease through raising funds for vital research, advocacy efforts & essential support programs & services in our communities.”
NHC is a national corporate supporter of the Alzheimer’s Association. In 2012, the company raised more than $135,000 for the association through a variety of fund-raising efforts, including the Walk to End Alzheimer’s program, for which NHC is a National Walk Team – Silver Level.