Juniper Village at Brookline Walks to End Alzheimer's

On Saturday, October 11^th, 46 teams comprised of 601 walkers laced up their sneakers and took to the track to end Alzheimer’s disease!  This year’s State College Walk to End Alzheimer’s—involving the most participants in the walk’s history—was held at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, home of the State College Spikes minor league baseball team. Letters from area caregivers, as well as a local man in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, were shared during the opening ceremony. Penn State men’s basketball coach, Pat Chambers, who lost his father to the Alzheimer’s, offered a motivational speech to the crowd of supporters, urging all to fight the disease that according to the Alzheimer’s Association, will triple to around 13.8 million cases by the year 2050.

Team Juniper Village at Brookline was a corporate sponsor of the walk and raised the second-highest team amount, bringing in just over $5,474. The event raised a total of $66,229.47, which directly benefits the Greater Pennsylvania Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. “It’s overwhelming to see such an outpouring of support from both our Juniper Village and State College area communities,” said Liz Plozner-Chalfa, executive director of Juniper Village Wellspring Memory Care at Brookline. “This disease is a devastating one, but efforts such as this key fundraiser give us all hope for the future.”

Family Fall Festival

Harner Farm of State College and Juniper Village Wellspring Memory Care at Brookline hosted their seventh annual Fall Festival to benefit the Central PA Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Each October, Wellspring and the Harners team up for a fun family day filled with kids’ games, face painting, live entertainment, food, baked goods, and Harner’s famous Halloween corn maze! What began as an idea to hold a small carnival in the parking lot of Wellspring, developed into one of the most anticipated seasonal events in State College. Wellspring Memory Care at Brookline executive director, Liz Plozner-Chalfa, who initiated the idea in 2008, is still pleasantly surprised each time the event grows. “I never dreamt that the festival would be where it is today”, she said. “We owe many thanks to the Harner family for their willingness to host this year after year, and to the community for their continued support.”

This year, Juniper Village associates from all Brookline communities, along with their spouses, children, friends, and neighbors worked at the festival. When the four-hour event drew to a close, just under $2,500 was collected for the worthwhile cause. A productive day, indeed!