THE the DELTA delta LEADER leader SEPTEMBER january 2013 2012
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JANUARY 2013 CAT HOARDER FINED P3 ••• WALK FOR MEMORIES P5 ••• STRATHCONA CUP AT TUNNEL TOWN P7
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Alzheimer’s disease tests bonds of family and friendship Robert Mangelsdorf South Delta Leader
PICTURED The Surrey Food Bank’s Lisa Soumang (left) and volunteers Wendy Fuller and Bob Wilson help run the North Delta Food Bank at North Delta Evangelical Free Church. Boaz Joseph photo
Banking on goodwill Boaz Joseph Surrey North Delta Leader There was a time about 13 years ago when Wendy Fuller would have loved to have known about the group she’s now a part of. Newly divorced, with kids to feed and no income, there was a one-year period
when she would have swallowed her pride and used the services of the North Delta Food Bank. But at the time, she didn’t know it existed. It started about two years earlier at the Boys and Girls Club, and in the fall of 2011, moved to North Delta Evangelical Free Church, where Fuller is a member of the
congregation – and a food bank volunteer. Some church members had wanted to volunteer at the Surrey Food Bank, but the convenience of their location (across the street from the Boys and Girls Club) and a growing clientele meant that the available church gym was too good an idea for the Surrey Food Bank to pass on.
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Ready, Set, Learn The Delta School District is calling all parents of 3-year-olds! Your local elementary school is planning an event for families of preschoolers. This is part of the Ready, Set, Learn initiative sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Come and make connections with your school and meet some of the teachers, students and parents.
All parents and their 3-year-olds are welcome to attend this informal event. You will receive a package of material and an age-appropriate book for your child. Call your local school for more details and to confirm your attendance. More information can be found on the Delta School District website.
The bonds of friendship are not easily broken, But for Christine Cole and Linda Ealing, the destructive force that is Alzheimer’s disease has done it’s best to divide them. The North Delta pair have been inseparable friends for more than 35 years, and have lived together as neighbours for more than 25. “Linda’s always been there for me,” says Cole. “She’s seen my kids grow up. She’s like a sister to me.” But close to 10 years ago, Cole began to notice her dear friend was changing. “We were both getting to that menopausal stage, so we both used to laugh about not remembering things,” recalls Cole. “But for Linda, it just got worse.” Ealing would miss appointments, and frequently lose things. “She kept phoning me up with the same requests, and couldn’t remember our earlier conversations,” says Cole. “That’s when I realized this was something more serious.” Cole convinced Ealing to see a doctor, and eventually Ealing was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 49. The destructive neurological disease causes dementia, confusion, long-term memory loss, and mood swings. Alzheimer’s eventually effects bodily functions, and life expectancy after diagnosis is typically five to 10 years. The disease affects more than 70,000 British Columbians, close to 750,000 Canadians, according to the Alzheimer Society of B.C. Early onset Alzheimer’s, that is, cases that appear before a patient is 65 years old, accounts for just five to 10 per cent of all Alzheimer’s cases. — Continued on p.5