Walk dedicated to Alzheimer’s awareness goes coast to coast
Jul 26, 2018, 4:24 AM | Updated: 7:15 am
(Pixabay photo)
(Pixabay photo)
PHOENIX — More than 1,000 Edward Jones employees will complete the 3,100-mile journey across America, taking at least 5.7 million steps — one step for every person in the United States living with Alzheimer’s disease.
The Walk Across America will kick off as two relay teams start in the oldest cities on each coast — San Diego on July 9 and St. Augustine, Florida on Aug. 27 — and meet in the middle of the country.
Each team will carry a hand-carved walking stick harvested from the farm of Ted Jones, the son of the firm’s founder, Edward Jones Sr.
The walk will conclude in St. Louis on Oct. 28, as the final team crosses the stage at Enterprise Center during this year’s annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s fundraising event.
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Edward Jones Principal John Beuerlein said he believes the four-month walk is one more way to increase awareness of Alzheimer’s, the resources available to deal with it and the financial tools they can offer to help investors plan for the unexpected.
“We are basically waving a yellow flag to America saying, ‘You need to wake up to how expensive this disease is,'” Beuerlein, who leads the firm’s Older Adult Council, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.
“It is the single most expensive disease in America and it is not getting the attention it needs. We see it destroying retirements and then starting to work on the next generation’s retirement.”
Beuerlein said he believes this is a cause that the financial service should adopt.
“It makes sense for us,” he said. “We are in the business of creating relationships and building family wealth and Alzheimer’s disease destroys both.”
