FROM THE ROOFTOPS-June 2006

It had been a long journey leading to this day…

Presenting the first check of The Unforgettable Fund to be used exclusively for Alzheimer’s research at Scripps Florida. Dollars collected in sums great and small, collectively hoping to make a difference at the very source where the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease begins – the lab.

It was a momentous day.

But the journey had been so very long – as anyone touched by the disease knows. I – and this is way outside my comfort zone, writing in first person – met Patty Doherty in the professional world. My respect for her work, talent, imagination, and integrity lead to a friendship. I never knew Patty when Alzheimer’s Disease wasn’t a part of her daily life. The struggles, the tears, the pure frustration of knowing that there were no cures – only band-aids and a downward spiral for her father. Little did anyone know that it would be an eleven-year spiral before her beloved father was released from this horrific disease in January, 2006.

It had been a long journey leading to this day…

Then there was hope: the announcement in November 2004 that the world-renowned, leader of scientific discovery in diseases that plague mankind, The Scripps Research Institute was coming to our backyard. Even better, Scripps Florida would have a lab dedicated to Alzheimer’s Disease research! And Patty, being Patty, made it her personal mission to seek out Scripps Florida’s lead researcher in Alzheimer’s Disease, Dr. Malcolm Leissring.

It had been a long journey leading to this day…

There will always be a need for philanthropy – after all, it takes large sums of money to build research labs (about $375 per square foot) and purchase the incredibly expensive equipment that is shared by all the sub-labs within a scientific research and development building. But as NIH funding, the primary funding source for true scientific discovery, continues to be cut at the Federal level, the need for dollars in the individual lab grows. And for those of us that are not at the “philanthropy level” and wishing to make a difference, The Unforgettable Fund provides a venue to memorialize a loved one and to direct dollars where the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease begins – the lab.

It had been a long journey leading to this day…

And there we were – presenting a check to Scripps Florida for the specific use for Alzheimer’s research. It had been one month since the launch of The Unforgettable Fund. Every penny of every dollar accounted for.

I was struck by the humbleness, generosity of spirit, and graciousness of the Scripps Florida team. Dr. Harry Orf made it feel as if The Unforgettable Fund had just donated $10 million, Dr. Malcolm Leissring patiently explained his research, and Candace Walker arranged a tour that was truly mind boggling for the mere mortal.

Awed at the experience, I noticed Gert McNally – Patty’s mother, recently widowed – intently watching the multi-million dollar, big yellow machine that cut the testing time of potential drugs from years to months. It was if she were willing the machine to work faster, for the scientists to put more compounds into it and get the answers that would eradicate Alzheimer’s Disease forever.

It had been a long journey leading to this day…