Puzzles To Remember: March 2013

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, March 27, 2013

Over 80 Alzheimer’s Facilities Supplied With Puzzles in the Last Month

By Max Wallack
Puzzles to Remember

The last month has been very busy for PuzzlesToRemember. Springbok’s PuzzlesToRemember, specialized puzzles for those with Alzheimer’s, have been sent out to 21 Memory Cafes, 30 Alzheimer’s units, and 3 Adult Day Care Centers. In addition, new and gently used puzzles have been supplied to 31 nursing facilities around the globe, from France to the United States to Canada.

Many wonderful notes of appreciation were received.

From the Orchard House in Connecticut:

“Please know that your support will make it possible for us to provide social interaction for elderly individuals with Alzheimer’s from our area.”

From Willow Brook in Arkansas:

“Thank you so much for the puzzle donation! Our residents in the SCU love them! They really work and complete the puzzles because of the large puzzle pieces. Thanks again.)

From Bright Horizons in New York:

“I wish to express my sincere thanks for your donation of puzzles to our programs. They will be used and enjoyed by our many members, and your generosity is greatly appreciated.”

I also have been fortunate to be in touch with Gaby from Monterrey, Mexico. At Gaby’s suggestion, I will sending Springbok PuzzlesToRemember, and Gaby will distribute them to Alzheimer’s facilities in Mexico. Gaby really understands the value of puzzles. In addition to supplying puzzles to Alzeheimer's facilities, Gaby says,

“Once or twice a week some of my neighbors (children) come to my house to play with puzzles. (See attached photos.) I knew puzzles help to stimulate minds. And I wanted to help them to improve their grades and abilities having fun.”

Additionally, this month I was contacted by over a dozen individuals, whom I helped find locations in their area to which they could bring their gently used puzzles.

I am amazed that, just this month, I have been able to supply more puzzles than I did during the whole first year of PuzzlesToRemember!

Springbok and I have been consulting about the development of additional Alzheimer’s puzzles. In particular, many people have been requesting that we develop more images that would be appealing to men.

I also had the opportunity to give a research poster presentation at the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry’s annual meeting in Los Angeles. It was a great experience, and I learned a great deal.

•

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.