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Westmount Gardens team rallies behind Alzheimer's fundraiser
Creative events raise awareness and support during Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month
7/6/2026
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Deron Hamel
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A Westmount Gardens life enrichment team member recently organized a series of fundraising events that brought residents and staff together in support of the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
A community walk, pyjama day, shirt day, hat day and even a pie-to-the-face fundraiser were among the initiatives Li Boone created to raise money for the society. Li also developed a QR code that allowed team members to donate as they wished.
“Li did an amazing job with all of the above, from creating posters to advertising it to the staff and encouraging staff to take part,” Adnan Resh, the London, Ont., long-term care community's life enrichment manager, tells S&R Today.
“This is the first time we have gone all out with so many different types of events leading up to the Alzheimer's walk, and it was a lot of fun and a great success.”
The fundraising efforts coincided with June being Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, a global campaign aimed at raising awareness of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia while promoting brain health.
Participants paid $2 to take part in each themed event. One of the most popular activities was pie-to-the-face day, which featured team members receiving whipped-cream pies in the face, Adnan says.
“Li was excited about this from the beginning, and she enjoys doing things like this,” Adnan says. “The pie-to-the-face was awesome to see. Who doesn't get a laugh when they see a pie to the face, especially for a good cause?”
The Alzheimer's community walk took place on a sunny, pleasant day, with residents and team members walking or rolling to a nearby park and back. In total, $349.75 was raised, surpassing the goal of $250.
While Westmount Gardens has hosted Alzheimer's fundraising walks in the past, this year's event drew even more participants, Li says.
As part of the walk, participants wrote down “forget-me-nots” on pieces of paper, naming people they were walking in honour of or keeping in mind throughout the event.
“It was a gorgeous day for a walk, and I couldn't have done it without the help of the life enrichment team and my partner,” Li says.
“We loved seeing all the residents come out, having fun, supporting one another and participating in our little forget-me-not activity.”
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