The group ACT on Alzheimer’s-Becker held an “action team” meeting at the Becker Area Senior Center in the Becker City Hall Thursday afternoon, primarily to begin finalizing the details for the organization’s Community Kick-Off event scheduled for Tue., March 10 from 4-6:30 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, 11185 27th Ave. S.E. in Becker.
On hand for the planning session were ACT organizer Tami Kolbinger, fellow Shepherd of Grace Community staff member Andrea Gregerson, Becker City Planner Therese Haffner, Becker Police Chief Brent Baloun, Becker Area Senior Center organizer Jerry Brunn, Becker Parks And Rec. Director Jamie Cassidy, Sherburne State Bank President Kevin Doty, Becker Mayor Jerome “Lefty” Kleis, Lisa Kleis, Mary Bauer from the Central MN Council on Aging and Lori Lestina from Faith in Action.
Among the items discussed was the importance of finding more channels through which to share information on the project with the community at large. Among those, Kolbinger said a link to the City of Becker or Becker Community Center websites would be beneficial, along with creation of a Facebook page for the group. Bauer said that a number of other area communities had expressed interest in the Becker project, and that Minnesota has received national recognition as a pioneer in creating “dementia friendly communities” throughout the state.
Gregerson said dementia has proven very difficult to diagnose, since Alzheimer’s is a very different disease from frontal lobe dementia, Parkinson’s and a number of other conditions that are now considered under the umbrella of dementia in medical terminology. Bauer also said that the number of cases is continuing to rise and the number of available professional caregivers is not rising fast enough to meet the need, as soon as 12 years from now.
Signage for the upcoming event was also discussed, with Doty saying it may be possible to put up a yellow electric portable on the Sherburne State Bank lot to advertise the event. The Becker School District will also be contacted in regard to posting a similar message on the electronic sign in front of the high school.
The group also discussed potential introductory speakers for the kick-off event, though no consensus was reached on that item on Thursday.
Kolbinger also said next Thursday she will meet with members of the BHS National Honor Society who have volunteered to input survey results from group members and create a worksheet. Estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Minnesota State Demographic Center suggest there are currently 82 people between the ages of 65 and 84 with Alzheimer’s in the Becker School District, and 72 people with Alzheimer’s over the age of 85, Kolbinger said. There are roughly 11,500 people living in the Becker School District.
All data collected will be combined after the community event, and the goals and information generated through that meeting and the other survey results will be turned over to the assigned grant writer, who will create a grant application for the group in advance of the April 15 deadline for submission.
The Becker Community Kick-Off event will utilize volunteer writers to sit at each table and record the discussions of each group, which they will then present to the group as a whole during the evening. Kolbinger said she hopes to involve students in this effort, as it is vital to engage young people in the project to build awareness that they will be facing this problem within their own circle of family and friends in the future as the aging population grows.
All members of the Becker area community are invited to the kick-off event, Kolbinger said, and dinner will be provided to all attendees free of charge. An RSVP is requested by Sunday, March 1, which can be done by contacting Kolbinger on-line at tamikolbinger@goodshepherdcampus.org, or by phone at 763.310.6574. She also said that while an RSVP is not required, it would help the event planners with their meal estimating.
