By Daily Press staff
Local resident Todd Gelfand plans to take a deep breath and enjoy the view from 19,563 feet on Sept. 21. Gelfand is one of 10 people from eight different countries who make up the Ascent for Alzheimer’s World Team. The six-day hike to the top of one of the world’s highest peaks will help to increase awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, but it is also a personal journey for Gelfand who lost his mother, Judy, to Alzheimer’s.
“Unfortunately World Alzheimer’s Day is just another day in the struggle to find a cure,”Gelfand said, speaking from his home where he is the managing partner of Gelfand, Rennert and Feldman, an entertainment business management firm with a celebrity roster.“But it is exciting to combine the need to raise funds and awareness of Alzheimer’s disease with something as personally challenging as the ascent to Kilimanjaro.”
Alzheimer Society of British Columbia founded Ascent for Alzheimer’s eight years ago. The first Ascent for Alzheimer’s was held in 1998. Since then, teams have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Gokyo Ri in Nepal to help raise funds and awareness about Alzheimer’s disease.
World Alzheimer’s Day is coordinated by Alzheimer’s Disease International and observed on Sept. 21 each year. The day was launched with the support of the World Health Organization in 1994. Alzheimer organizations, other groups and individuals typically mark the day with events throughout the world. This year, Gelfand is one of only three Americans, and the only one from California who is undertaking the challenge.
This climb is not Gelfand’s first attempt to channel heartbreak into change. After watching his mother lose a nine-year battle with Alzheimer’s, Gelfand made a commitment to join the search for a cure. He and his family established The Judy Fund which, to date, has funded over $2.4 million in Alzheimer’s Association grants. In addition, The Judy Fund sponsored the Pioneer Award, the Alzheimer’s Association’s largest grant of $1 million. These funds will be used to support a five-year study on the quality of care in assisted living facilities with the goal of establishing a best-practice model for Alzheimer’s care.
All funds raised from the climb to Kilimanjaro will be used for Alzheimer’s research.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 4, 2006. Read the original PDF.