Puzzles To Remember

PUZZLES TO REMEMBER is a youth led 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias through jigsaw puzzles, cognitive engagement, and social connection. Led by Executive Director Hailey Richman, Puzzles To Remember has distributed more than 236,000 puzzles valued at over $2 million to more than 5,000 memory care communities, nursing homes, veterans facilities, senior centers, and other organizations across all 50 states and 16 countries. Our programs have benefited more than one million people while diverting approximately 148 tons of puzzles from landfills through donation and reuse. Puzzles To Remember also promotes intergenerational connection through Puzzle Time, which brings young people together with individuals living with dementia for shared puzzle solving, conversation, and companionship. Our mission is to provide engaging and purposeful activities that promote connection, participation, and joy while enhancing the quality of life of those affected by dementia. Donate Puzzles If you have puzzles you would like to donate, please contact us at Puzzles2Remember@gmail.com. We will help identify a location where your puzzles can benefit individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Donation acknowledgment letters are available upon request.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Recently, I learned that I will be the recipient of the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes.

by Max Wallack
PuzzlesToRemember

This award comes with a $2500 prize that I may use either for my education or for my cause. I will be donating this prize to the Pharmacology and Experimental TherapeuticsLaboratory at Boston University’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center.

I work in this laboratory 3 to 5 days a week, as a Research Intern. I am fortunate to be surrounded by some of the best and brightest Alzheimer’s researchers anywhere. Not only are these scientists brilliant, but they are hard working, kind, and compassionate. These are things I value greatly; I don’t believe brilliance alone can accomplish much.

Because funding is hard to find in these days of economic stagnancy, I have been trying very hard to apply for various awards and research funding. I have found a great deal of help on the Alzheimer’s Reading Room. Carole Larkin was one of the people that wrote my letter of recommendation for the Gloria Barron Prize, Emma Richman wrote another, and Marie Marley has been working with me to apply for various grants. I am so thankful to these trusted friends I have found on the ARR!

I believe that Alzheimer’s Disease must be fought on multiple fronts. Research is imperative, but even research must be diverse and range from Dr. Tanzi’s innovative genetic research, to Dr. Qiu’s and Dr. Zhu’s important research on the AD/diabetes connection and various enzyme interactions, to John Ziesel’s important art programs and their effects on Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers. Equally important is the kind of empathetic physician interaction exemplified by Dr. Forester, at McLean Hospital and many other wonderful Geriatric Psychiatrists that I have had the opportunity to meet.

Since I first learned about Memory Café’s, I have felt that these are the wave of the future for Alzheimer’s caregiving. AD patients often resent being sent to Adult Day Care, but, somehow, they never resent participating in social events TOGETHER with their caregivers. Once there, they meet others like themselves, and they quickly become involved in activities, giving caregivers an opportunity to interact, learn, or just relax.

Perhaps, some of these cafes might become a source for the type of Cooperative Caregiving that Bob envisions, with two or three of the caregivers being given the opportunity to take a few respite hours.

This week, Carole sent me a newsletter, Memory Memos, from the Upper Valley Alzheimer’s
Community, which is in the Lebanon NH area. They are obviously running some great programs! Here are some photos of their participants doing Springbok PuzzlesToRemember at their Memory Café, being facilitated by Dr. Santulli from the Dartmouth Institute.

I know Carole is becoming very involved in setting up numerous Memory Cafes. These patients and their caregivers will be very fortunate.

Max Wallack is a student at Boston University and a Research Intern in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Boston University School of Medicine. His great grandmother, Gertrude, suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Max is the founder ofPUZZLES TO REMEMBER. PTR is a project that provides puzzles to nursing homes and veterans institutions that care for Alzheimer's and dementia patients.