Chamber After Hours, Walk to End Alzheimer’s kickoff set for April 30

Alzheimer’s already weighs on Illinois households at a scale that reaches far beyond Jacksonville, with about 251,000 people age 65 and older living with the disease and 316,000 family caregivers providing support. That is the backdrop for a free April 30 kickoff in Morgan County that is meant to bring local families, caregivers and business owners into the 2026 Walk to End Alzheimer’s campaign.

The Walk to End Alzheimer’s Kickoff and Chamber After Hours is set for 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at The Hangout Bar & Grill, 901 W. Superior Ave. in Jacksonville. The event is being hosted by Walk to End Alzheimer’s in partnership with the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce. It is free, requires no RSVP and will include a complimentary first drink along with optional carnival-style games.

Todd Lamison, senior development manager for the Alzheimer’s Association Illinois Chapter, is the contact for the Jacksonville walk and is helping steer the local push. He can be reached at 217-641-0141 or talamison@alz.org. The association says the chapter helps people in Illinois facing Alzheimer’s and dementia with support groups, education and local resources, a mission that matters for Morgan County families trying to manage memory loss, caregiving schedules and the strain that comes with both.

The Jacksonville walk itself is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, at Community Park - Chamber of Commerce, 1309 South Main St. in Jacksonville. Registration runs from noon to 12:30 p.m., activities from noon to 1 p.m., and a ceremony is set for 1 p.m. before the walk begins. The route will be under 1 mile.

The scale behind the fundraising explains why organizers are treating the kickoff as more than a social hour. In Illinois, caregivers provide about 488 million hours of unpaid care valued at $12.4 billion, and the state’s Medicaid costs tied to Alzheimer’s are about $2.3 billion. Nationally, the Alzheimer’s Association estimates the cost of caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias at $360 billion in 2024, rising to nearly $1 trillion by mid-century. The association calls Walk to End Alzheimer’s the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research, and says events are held in more than 600 communities nationwide.