The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

mst egonomisp sun the tribune thursday january 15 1998 p9 alzheimer society seeking to raise public awareness bruce stapley correspondent the alzheimer society of york region is looking to increase pub lic awareness of services available to families with members afflicted by alzheimer disease january is national alzheimer awareness month according to society president smith kothari it is essential to pass on as much information as possible to present and potential victims and their families for the sake of bettering the lives of those the disease touches the need to raise awareness about alzheimer disease is urgent she said adding that those providing care for victims of the disease need to be informed of programs and services available to help them shoulder what can be a stressful and fatiguing load alzheimer disease is a progres sive degenerative brain disorder which destroys vital brain cells it affects memory the ability to per- form basic tasks judgment and abstract thinking victims can experience disorientation of time and place rapid mood swings and dramatic personality changes alzheimer disease patients cur rently number a quarter million across canada with experts pre dicting a tripling of that number by the year2030 as the glut of baby boomers begins to age the public is being asked to drop off coins to the society office at 800 davis dr unit 6 newmar ket during january all funds raised during this campaign will be allocated to research said kothari according to society past presi dent joanne cameron a stouf- fville resident there has been strong support for recent fundrais- ing programs in this area the annual coffee break was a big success in stouffville last septem ber thanks to the work of local merchant sandy stronach said cameron she said a york region police choir concert in november in newmarket raised 5000 the society is to host an alzheimer information breakfast at cousens restaurant in new market jan 17 with tickets avail able by calling the society office at 905 8951337 the york society has combined with the canadian and ontario alzheimer association to come up with the triad information series to assist families going through the diagnosis process applicable printed materials dealing with the various stages of diagnosis and support services available are handed out on an ongoing basis with each visit to the doctors office while drugs have only been able to treat symptoms of the disease so far cameron said several drugs in the testing stages are providing hope aricept which replaces a chemical missing in the brains of alzheimer victims has the society waxing optimistic said cameron whereas once we had nothing to offer victims and their families now we can say we have some thing being tested that may prove helpful now its not so onerous on families when they are told a fam- i ily member has alzheimer dis ease services offered by the society include two day centres which provide meaningful recreational and social programs for patients while giving caregivers a much needed break the original centre located in thornhill is receiving government funding to handle 16 patients but is currently looking after 28 the recently opened cen tre in newmarket is already caring for 23 patients both centres have waiting lists support groups meet monthly at the union villa retirement home in unionville as well as in new market georgina and thornhill cameron said groups could be arranged in stouffville if there was interest for information call 9058951337 our new years gift to you lease a new 1998 accent l 5year100000 km powertrain warranty 3year60000 km 24hour roadside assistance program electronicallycontrolled 15 litre 4cylinder multivalve engine dual remote control mirrors full folding rear seat only per month 48 months best buy award winner 1996 1997 and 1998 carguide magazine murryinforbestse the new hyundai driving is believing hyunbph markham hyuridfll div markham hne cars lt1x the new hyundai 5829 highway 7 east 90547255 driving is believing 48 month lease based on 850 down plus 1st month security deposit frieght pdi license all taxes bah a i group hosts series of meetings on womens issues kate gilderdale correspondent the fourth world conference on women which took place in china in 1995 is the inspiration behind a communitybased task force t sponsored by the markham bahai womens group the beijing platform for action project bpfa was established to jnform the markham and stouffville commu nities of 12 critical issues which were recog nized at the conference to identify local needs and to bring individuals and groups together to address the relevant issues at a grass roots level so that appropriate action can be taken the task force is host ing its first public infor mation meeting on jan 22 at 1- pm in the cana da room at the markham civic centre speakers janis alton and dorothy goldenrosen berg will illustrate for the audience their expe riences at the beijin con ference support for bpfa has been pledged by the town of markham yel low brick house markhamstouffville family life centre aim for change and the york regional police all of whom have donated time andor resources to the project the task force invites all individuals and com munity groups to partici pate in this project said committee member terry poirier who is sec retary of the bahai womens group the group is aware of the communitys cultural diversity and the impor tance of reflecting that diversity to ensure its relevance to all resi dents an action research team is assembling to collect data on existing services available to area women and the task force is inviting resi dents to join the team a training session is sched uled for this saturday jan 17 from 1 30 pm to 4 pm the task force will be conducting its second public meeting on feb 19 at 7 pm organizers welcome inquiries from those interested in participat ing and from potential sponsors we hope to plan a conference that encour ages the optimum dia logue between resource persons and partici pants noted poirier we intend to channel this dialogue into plan ning for future collabo rative initiatives to create systematic and systemic encouragement and opportunities for women to develop their capaci ties for information call poirier at 2944565 or marlene mogado at 472- 0320 with files from lorraine o grady do not miss this weekend at fathers roy2 band hr8sfe v laying requests from over a boq sonv rcpertoirewm lassic rock country rhythm bluesm incoming event tispbbm w ipsfriday jan 23rd join us folb lo souths sagjjip stand up comedy and music routine sunday jan 25th bowlcelebra m hi a d fm est wmeuem iw x pog js