Puzzles To Remember: Alzheimer's Helpers

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.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Alzheimer's Helpers

By Max Wallack
PuzzlesToRemember

One hundred and twenty five sixth through eighth graders in Northern Kentucky will collect puzzles and bring them to nursing facilities in Northern Kentucky.

At Brighton Center, in an impoverished area of Northern Kentucky, a program called Youth Leadership Development offers an extensive after school program for teens ages 9 - 15. In this program, the youth go over their entire 34 week school curriculum, and they are encouraged to think about the future, including college and career fields.

The students are also encouraged to become involved in community service projects, helping them build self-esteem, confidence, and leadership skills.

I am proud to announce that, under the direction of Michelle Bullis, the Coordinator to the Youth Leadership Development program, 125 students will become involved in the work of PuzzlesToRemember. After collecting puzzles, these students will have an opportunity to deliver these puzzles and interact with patients in nursing facilities. This will be a win-win situation with confidence being inspired on both sides!

Ms. Bullis also plans to bring in speakers to talk with the youth about Alzheimer's disease. Ms. Bullis says her project is about "the youth taking control and learning through experience."

The Brighton Center also offers these teens a wealth of other opportunities. They have collected school supplies for needy students. They maintain a community garden. They write thank-you cards to our veterans. They also have a teen coalition that focuses on anti-bullying awareness and a drug free lifestyle.

All this is taking place in an area where there are 3,000 homeless youth and young adults! Yet, these students improve their own lives by helping others. This is philanthropy at its best!

As these students collect and deliver their puzzles to nursing and Alzheimer's facilities, I will post photos of their project and their success. You can learn more about the Brighton Center here.
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Max Wallack is a student at Boston University and a Research Intern in the Molecular Psychiatry and Aging Laboratory 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 of PUZZLES TO REMEMBER. PTR is a project that provides puzzles to nursing homes and veterans institutions that care for Alzheimer's and dementia patients.