Ten years ago, Alissa Myers, who was a college sophomore at the time, had her world turned upside down. She was told that her father, Rick, was diagnosed with Frontal Temporal Degeneration and Alzheimer’s Disease.
“My dad was diagnosed while I was in college and my sister was 14,” she said. “At the time, there was a lot of confusion about what Dementia even is.”
Her experience learning what her father was going through was powerful since all of her college friends learned just how terrible and common Alzheimer’s Disease is along with her.
In 2015, Myers decided to assemble her friends, get decked out in purple (the color of Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness) and do a pub crawl throughout SoHo for her birthday.
“My birthday and Father’s Day are days apart, so I thought it would be a great way to honor my dad,” she said.
The goal was to raise awareness among the millennial crowd, and that’s what happened as her crew bounced from bar to bar in South Tampa.
“At each stop, people were asking why we were all wearing purple,” said Myers, “and it gave me a chance to tell them my story.”
That inaugural crawl raised $4,000 and it's been a tradition ever since.
Over the years, the crawl has transitioned into a full-blown 501 c(3) nonprofit called ALE for ALZ, raising awareness of Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia-related illnesses through events and campaigns.
The mission is to engage, educate and inspire people of all ages in the hope of transforming the way people think about Alzheimer’s Disease, and building a path toward a dementia-free world.
Within the next few years, Myers is thinking about changing up the location of the crawl, as it continues to grow each year. Until then, it’ll continue to be in SoHo as to not mess with the recipe.
This year, the crawl will be held on June 29 from 2-8 p.m. and will begin at MacDinton’s for a kick-off party and group photo, followed by Yard of Ale and ending at Dubliner Irish Pub for the finale party.
No need to wear purple to join the crew; each attendee will get a koozie with the ALE for ALZ logo. Don’t worry about strictly following the schedule throughout the evening, either — if you get separated from the group, you can follow the ALZ flags and signage at each stop.
There will be stickers and photo booth props with sayings like #EndALZ and “Kick ALZ in the ballz.”
To register, head to aleforalz.org/pubcrawl. General admission is $15 and includes a free beer at MacDinton’s and cocktail and food specials at each stop. For $30 VIP tickets, crawlers receive one free beer at each stop and free Jell-O shots at MacDinton’s and Yard of Ale, along with drink and food specials.
Time to raise a glass to raise awareness.
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