Hello Gramma.......Remember Me?

As a teenager I spent time visiting my grandmother at a care facility.

I would walk down a long corridor, reach the door of her room, knock gently then walk in...

I would walk over to her bed, touch her hand and greet her:

Hello Gramma.......remember me?

For 12 years my family watched my gramma's slow decline from Alzheimer's.

My Grandparents, Helen & Nicholas Fusco

This is the way I prefer to remember my grandmother

I was recently contacted by:

Jeffree Itrich
Sr. Clinical Trials Communications Specialist
Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study
University of California, San Diego

Here is Jeffree with one of the quilts donated to comfort an Alzheimer's patient

Quilts brighten the lives of Alzheimer's Patients

Quilters have long known that a quilt is a loving tribute that bonds quilters with recipients across generations and across vast distances. The warmth of a quilt is enhanced by the often bright patterns and colorful images which frequently suggest a simpler time.

Under a unique donation program organized by the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS, quilts are brightening the lives of Alzheimer's patients around the nation.

The Alzheimer’s Study Quilt Program began in late January 2010. An employee who quilts jumpstarted the project because she knows how positively people react when given a quilt and how quilters are wonderfully generous people. Her plea for quilts to give participants in the NGF (Nerve Growth Factor) Study was picked up by numerous quilting newsletters. Good Samaritans circulated the request for quilts and they began arriving from communities all over the U.S. The program has received nearly enough quilts for all the NGF Study participants and are now looking for quilts for two other Alzheimer’s studies in progress.

Those study participants who have received quilts have been immensely grateful and realize that the quilts were made with love, sincerity, and gratitude (for participating in the study and helping future generations). Many of the quilters had family members with Alzheimer’s (AD). One woman who lost her mother to AD made and donated 12 quilts and another whose grandfather had AD provided 11 quilts. A woman in Pennsylvania made five flannel quilts in one week!

If you would like to donate a new lap-sized quilt to the Alzheimer’s Quilt Study Project, please contact Jeffree Itrich atjitrich@ucsd.edu.

Jeffree

Jeffree Itrich
Sr. Clinical Trials Communications Specialist
Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0949
San Diego, CA 92093-0949
Tel: 858-622-5827
FAX: 858-452-4291
jitrich@ucsd.edu

www.adcs.org

CLICK HERE to view the Purple Name Quilt

CLICK HERE to view Quilting on Sacred Ground

CLICK HERE to view Shave Your Legs...

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn