LIGHTING THE Sisters Make This Year’s TLD the Most Successful By Sue Pelchat, Past International President, CT Mu
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edicated participants and creative activities combined to make The Longest Day (TLD) the most successful in Alpha Delta Kappa’s history of participation. Each year on June 20, the day with the most hours of light, supporters raise funds for research to end Alzheimer’s and to help people with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers through services such as educational programs and a 24-hour hotline. This year marks the sixth time Alpha Delta Kappa sisters have joined in the fight. “We wonder at what level we should pledge, but this year I was stunned,” ALZ Global Team Leader Sue Pelchat reported. “We pledged to raise $50,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association, but we surpassed that goal before The Longest Day dawned. On the morning of July 8, I checked the Alzheimer’s website. A∆K members had already donated $165,000. By suppertime the total was up to $168,000. And by my bedtime, it stood at $171,054.99. The generosity of our sisters makes me so proud.” By July 22, Alpha Delta Kappa donations had risen to an all time high of $193,176.10. In addition to walking, running and swimming, sisters
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enjoyed tea parties and picnics, played Trivia, cooked for kids, held paint days, created cards, made care bags, rode bikes and held garage sales. Linda Warren VA Alpha cooked spaghetti dinners and delivered them to people affected by Alzheimer’s, while NC Gamma Theta sisters enlisted their mayor to shake a bucket and collect from passersby. The leaderboard revealed the top ten team donations. They were: South Carolina Together We Can $21,940, California Cares $20,142, Georgia $19,623, Maryland Black Eyed Susans $12,398, Virginia $10,382, North Carolina Pearls $10,203, Texas Forget Me Nots $6463, West Virginia $5166, Ohio $5,156, and Florida’s Purple Cow Roundup $4,333. These ten teams combined raised $115,806. Top individual fundraisers were Pippy Rogers, GA Beta Iota; Mary Futchko, VA Beta Lambda; Jill Stemple, WV Kappa; Michelle Gray, NC Beta Zeta; Dorothy Zielinski, FL Fidelis Rho; Dorean Barnes, and Linda Rissel, NJ Lambda. “One wonders how we could ever outperform this year. But we all know we’ll try our best for the sake of loved ones who face the fight with Alzheimer’s every day,” said Pelchat.
CA Beta Omicron
CA Beta Omicron sisters participated in the annual The Longest Day RACE, a walking fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association. With COVID, it was hard to get sisters to meet as a group, so many did the walk with family or on their own. Some met at Mission Bay in San Diego to walk for sister Carol Castlen. Beta 2 Omicron raised three times the expected amount. Next year’s walk is already being planned. #1: Left to right: Becky Johnson, Mary Ann Jones, Cindy Acerno, Catherine McAweeney, Holly Foster #2: Alice Bullard, Summer Cariss (Alice’s granddaughter), Melissa Cariss (Alice’s daughter)
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