Sunday, November 15, 2026
The Freeport-Merrick Rotary worked with other Long Island nonprofits and medical organizations to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research during the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. The fundraising event took place in East Meadow’s Eisenhower Park.
The two-mile walk was held on Oct. 4. The Freeport-Merrick Rotary Club, led by president Kerry Esmay and member DeRosette Harrison, raised $725 for the Alzheimer’s Association. The association helps provide medical support for those dealing with the disease, as well as fund research efforts to cure and treat it.
In addition to contributing to the cause, the rotary club hosted a table at the event alongside other businesses and nonprofits, and got to tell attendees about the humanitarian mission of the club and its various charitable initiatives. Esmay said that this was the fourth year the club participated in the event.
Tinamarie Hardekopf, an event organizer and senior director of development for the Alzheimer’s Association’s Long Island Chapter, said it was a “pivotal moment” for Alzheimer’s research and awareness, emphasizing how the contributions of events like this go a long way to providing hope.
“With new treatments and proven lifestyle habits that support brain health, there is real hope,” Hardekopf said. “Together we can build a brain-healthy future and help end this disease.”
More than 7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, including 400,000 New Yorkers and 60,000 Long Island residents, according to Charles J. Fuschillo Jr., president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, who is also a Merrick resident. The disease most commonly impacts people over the age of 65.
While there is currently no cure for the disease, this has not stopped many Long Island residents and others from holding on to hope for an eventual cure and an end to the suffering that many families go through.
“For me, the Walk to End Alzheimer’s is a group hug that represents love, remembrance and a hope for a cure,” Armando D’Accordo, an executive event co-chair of the walk, said. “I walk for the people who have been affected and for the families who stand beside them. I walk for those that deserved to be remembered for who they were, not how they were affected.”
