I just wrote a check for $30,000 and it felt GREAT—as soon as my heart stopped racing and I made sure I spelled all the words correctly. That much money, well, I don’t know about you, but I get a little tense.
Writing checks to pay for Alzheimer’s research is the best part of my duties as Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative. I know there are some organizations who can give far more than we can and would consider a check for $30K a piddling amount. But I know how we earned it: one quilt at a time. I can’t tell you what a thrill it was, and how grateful I am that quilters throughout the United State (and beyond) made this grant possible.
This is the AAQI’s third research grant that we have funded directly and it is our largest one to date. This was also the first time I was able to hand deliver the check.
On Friday Debbie Chenail (AAQI Treasurer) and I drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan to met Dr. Mi Hee Lim and her research team at the University of Michigan. We brought several quilts from the current traveling exhibit, “Alzheimer’s: Forgetting Piece by Piece” along with five of the completed “Name Quilts” from the next exhibit, “Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope.”
I explained that for most AAQI supporters, fighting Alzheimer’s is a personal struggle. We have/had family members and friends with the disease and we have seen the devastating results. Every stitch in every quilt is made with purpose and with hope, and now that hope rests with these talented and dedicated scientists.
The team which will soon begin work, financed in part by the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative, is from left to right: Joseph Braymer, Dr. Mi Hee Lim, Nathan Merrill, Jung Suk Choi, Nicole Schmidt, Yihong Liu, and Alaina DeToma.
They hope to create a new class of molecules that will be used as chemical probes to better understand the role of metal ions in the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease and to hopefully create therapeutic agents for metal-ion chelation therapy. Godspeed!
If you would like to support the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative, there are 28 Ways You Can Help. For now I’m going to rest my check-writing hand and go make another quilt.
Get my blog delivered to you via email, or read it online.
(By the way, I Twitter too.
And I friend quilters on Facebook!)
Through The Eyes Of A Quilter 
Congratulations, Ami! This is an amazing accomplishment.
LikeLike
How wonderful that you’re committed to sharing the joy and the reward with all of those who’ve been inspired by your leadership and have contributed to your cause. Thanks!
LikeLike
Congratulations, Ami! I’m sure you felt very proud to turn over that check (as well as a tiny bit bittersweet). But also the crew that received it must now know how important their work truly is to many, many individuals to worked to raise that money.
LikeLike
Congratulation, way to go!
LikeLike
The world gets better and better by your efforts! Thank you.
LikeLike
Wow! What a thrill! :-)
LikeLike
That is wonderful and a big THANK YOU to all of you who helped her in this very important cause.
LikeLike
Wonderful! I’m not in a position to bid right now, but I did spread the news and a couple of friends now own beautiful quilts. I’ve also recommended your blog so they know they aren’t alone in their dealings with loved ones suffering from this terrible disease.
LikeLike
Fabulous!!!
One little quilt at a time, we too can help in the fight.
It’s gratifying to be a tiny part of your wonderful efforts!
LikeLike
What a wonderful way to start the day. Congratulations big time!!! (@:
LikeLike
As a mother all I can say is your mother is smiling down on her wonderful daughter. Great job.
LikeLike
Ami, you ROCK! The quilters and friends of quilters and friends of friends of quilters who follow and support you and the “cause” ROCK as well! Perhaps we can conquer this terrible disease one stitch at a time……
LikeLike
Congratulations! This is a wonderful thing you and all the quilters are doing. It may seem small but it may be the chink that puts the research over the top someday. Hopefully very soon. Keep up the good work…
LikeLike
Congratulations, AMI. I am happy to have been part of the project and will continue to do so. My Alzheimer’s quilts are living on my dining room wall for all to see and I see them every day.
LikeLike
How exciting! I feel so great to be a small part of this. Thanks, Ami, for all you do.
LikeLike
Congratulations! Thank you for allowing me to contribute to the fight against Alzheimer’s through creating quilts! It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
LikeLike
Thank you for “taking us along” for the presentation and introducing the researchers to us. :)
LikeLike
Congratulations, Ami! As a quilter and staff educator where I teach folks about this dreadful disease every day, I applaud you and your fellow quilters – YOU ROCK! Thanks (although I think I would have heart failure writing a check for that amount!)
LikeLike
Congratulations to you and everyone who helped to make this wonderful donation a reality! Your mother would be so proud!
We never know when Alzheimer’s is going to touch us personally. My mother was diagnosed with it last month.
Thanks again for all of your fundraising efforts!
LikeLike
Godspeed indeed! May their results come quickly!
This disease robs us of our loved ones long before their bodys quit. A cure, or a least better treatments are needed sooner, rather than later. Thank you for all your work, effort and support.
LikeLike
FANTASTAC! You do such a nice job. Thank You.
LikeLike
Thank you on behalf of both of my grandmothers and my dad. My grandmothers have finished their journey and my dad is a couple of years into his. Thank you.
LikeLike
i saw some fabulous priority quilts today at our gathering.
one is a duplicate of one sold at the mennonite relief auction last fall for ……………$500
it is fantastic. more with unusual shapes, styles and colors. can’t wait for them to come up for bids.
LikeLike
Awesome! Can’t wait to see them!
LikeLike
What are they looking for? Is anyone looking for the causes? I don’t think there will be a cure. It is like concrete, once it sets you can never go back. Creative thinkers need to be interviewing all patients (while they are still able to provide informatoin) and relatives.
LikeLike
Yes, Karen, scientists all over the world are looking for the cause, as well as a way to slow the disease and ways to reverse it. And, as you suggest, there are many epidemiological studies that are ongoing also. Eventually there must be a breakthrough.
LikeLike