Mahopac woman's pilgrimage in Italy to help fight Alzheimer's

This June, Karen Ganis of Mahopac will visit Italy with a group that plans to make a 115-mile pilgrimage on foot from Palermo to Agrigento. The trip – called a camino in Italian – is regraded as a spiritual journey for many who make it. For Ganis, it will also be a chance to honor her father, who died 20 years ago from Alzheimer’s disease. She has made her trek a Longest Day fundraiser to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association Hudson Valley Chapter.

The Longest Day, named in recognition of the long days spent by caregivers of people who have dementia, encourages people to do any activity they choose any time they choose to raise awareness and funds to help end Alzheimer’s. While Longest Day fundraisers do not have to be held on the actual summer solstice, the timing of Ganis’ trip aligns perfectly. She will begin her pilgrimage on June 21.

“It was a good timing for it; it was a good location for me,” Ganis said. “I just thought it would be a really nice way to challenge myself, and it just happens that the first day of this hike is on The Longest Day. At first, I thought it would just be more about awareness, but when I found out it was on The Longest Day, I realized it would be great to make money.”

The group she will travel with, The Temple Project, consists of 16 people from around the world. Most are from the United States, and there are also participants from England and Australia. Their reasons for making the trip vary – many members have lost loved ones to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Some are going to raise money, and others are doing it for the experience alone.

Ganis said she was going to have to do some training to physically prepare for her journey, which is 115 miles long through rustic territory.

“I’m not a hiker; it’s not my thing. I just started to hike, and bought new hiking boots. How am I going to walk 115 miles if I can’t walk 50 feet? I’m training. I’m pretty physically fit. I’m not so much worried about the way we have to do it,” she said, noting that she will have to carry a pack with her and walk on uneven surfaces.

A longtime advocate and former board member for the Alzheimer’s Association, Ganis said she hopes to raise $10,000 for the cause. She said she plans to shoot short videos of herself on the trail in honor of different people every day.

“There’s eight days of hiking. I’m going to video myself doing little snippets of who I’m doing it for on each particular day. The first day and the longest day, I’m going to do for my dad. The next day, for my grandmother, my father’s mother. Then for three of my father’s siblings and my cousin, one of my aunts who had Alzheimer’s, and now her daughter has it. So for me, it’s a very personal mission.”

She is also encouraging people who donate to her fundraiser to share the names of loved ones they wish to honor so she can read their names out loud when she reaches her destination.

“What I’m trying to do is -- I told people that if they make a donation, when I get to Agrigento, I will read every single name in memory of whoever the donors want to have honored, so they kind of will be with me. If I get 10,000 people to donate a dollar, what a beautiful thing that would be,” she said.

She said her dedication to the Alzheimer’s Association results from the nature of the disease, which robs loved ones of the ability to say goodbye.

“I miss my dad every single day. My mom died from cancer. People ask me, ‘Why do you fundraise for the Alzheimer’s Association?’ Really, it’s because when my mom died, we were able to have a conversation; we were able to say goodbye. We could be at peace with the situation. But when my dad died, he was just taken from us. I do what I do is so another family will not have to have that experience.”

Her family history makes her determined to see an end to Alzheimer’s.

“We do what we do to make that change. I still hope for a cure. I don’t want my kids to watch me the way I watched my father.”

To donate to Karen Ganis’ Longest Day fundraiser, visit http://bit.ly/karenshike

About the Hudson Valley Chapter

The Hudson Valley Chapter serves families living with dementia in seven counties in New York, including Duchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester. To learn more about the programs and services offered locally, visit alz.org/hudsonvalley.

About the Alzheimer’s Association

The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Its mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to provide and enhance care and support for all affected and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Its vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. Visit alz.org or call 800.272.3900.