Every year, more than 600 communities nationwide host the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Trinity Springs in Oxford, FL, is participating in the event at The Villages which will take place on October 7, 2023. Working ahead, Trinity Springs creatively raised $7,441 in the process.

Staff, residents, family members, vendors and others came together to make Trinity Springs one of the top five fundraising teams for The Villages event.

Six Months of Fundraising

Trinity Springs’ physical therapy and life enrichment teams joined together to coordinate an old-fashioned carnival in April. They had intended to host carnival games outdoors, but the weather did not cooperate. Instead, they moved everything indoors and made the most of it.

Marketing team members planned a wine walk in May. Vendors donated to the cause and served wine paired with hors d’oeuvres prepared by the community’s chef.

“Neighboring towns do wine walks,” says Teresa, the move-in coordinator for the senior living community. “We said, ‘Why don’t we bring a wine walk to our residents?'”

Once again, weather did not cooperate. This time, it was too hot, so the event took place inside. Even so, this event raised more than $1,000.

Teresa says one of the most fun events was “Jail and Bail” in June. The concept was simple: the facilities team built a jail in the lobby. Individuals paid to put friends in jail and others had to pay to get them released.

Everyone had fun, with real smiles and fake grumpy faces to prove it. In the process, they raised nearly $1,500.

In July, the culinary team hosted a bake sale. All the ingredients combined into tasty treats that raised nearly $1,000.

August brought a cake walk organized by the business office team. It raised more than $450.

“The cake walk was a really big hit,” Teresa says. “Residents remember that from their childhood.”

In September, the nursing team wrapped up the fundraising efforts with a basket raffle featuring all sorts of goodies.

Coming Together for a Cause

It took a lot of time, effort and coordination to pull off so many events and raise so much money.

“It has definitely been a group effort,” Teresa says. “We (the marketing team) kind of held the reins, but our whole team jumped on board.”

She enjoyed seeing everyone unite together.

“It has been a great cause that has brought the residents, staff and community together,” Teresa says.

Those raising funds have been thinking of memory care residents at the same time.

“We have wonderful residents who are suffering from Alzheimer’s,” Teresa says. “Their families have become family members to us.”

Raising funds is only the beginning.

“Our goal is to get awareness here in the community,” Teresa says.