The Hammond Recycling Department is spearheading an effort to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease among Northwest Indiana residents by distributing purple recycling bins containing information about the disease. The project started last November, National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, and will expand in 2013. Hammond Recycling Director Kathy Kazmierczak created the awareness campaign. Kazmierczak’s mother, Regina Przybyla, 95, is in the late stage of the disease. “Everyone that we talk to is so happy with the program. Obviously Alzheimer’s touches so many lives,” Kazmierczak said.
Alzheimer’s Association Greater Indiana Chapter Community Services Liaison Louise Thompson has paired up with Kazmierczak to stock the bins with information about how families who are dealing with the disease can get help. Thompson wants to make sure residents know that the Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Helpline is a resource they can use anytime for information, education and emotional support.
Kazmierczak has used the Alzheimer’s Association’s website, www.alz.org/indiana, to learn more about the disease during her own family’s journey with Alzheimer’s. Her mother has lived with dementia for 10 years. The disease has progressed to the point where Przybyla is having trouble swallowing. During a recent visit on Christmas day, Kazmierczak watched her mother eat some food. “That’s enough to make me happy,” Kazmierczak said. “Those are the times when you say, ‘That’s my Christmas present.’”
Kazmierczak hopes Hammond’s awareness campaign will spread to other cities. “You see your loved one fading away. It’s hard on the caregiver as well, and that’s why I think people need to know there is an organization out there,” she said. “There is help out there and we need to show that.”
To learn more about the campaign, please contact the Hammond Recycling Department at 219-853-6622.