Hope on the menu
Findings from the 2025 Alzheimer’s Association Disease Facts and Figures annual report showed that more than 7 million Americans are living with the disease, which is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms eventually grow severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. A staggering one out of every three seniors will die with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. It kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer, combined.
The Alzheimer’s Association continues to lead the fight but needs your help. The diseases and other related dementias cost the nation more than $384 billion and nearly 12 million Americans provide unpaid care for those battling the disease.
Now in its 14th year, the Alzheimer’s Association Southeast Texas Chapter hosts their Family Portrait Luncheon, which gives the community the opportunity to honor those that have been lost to Alzheimer’s and who are currently battling the disease, on Thursday, March 26, at the MCM Eleganté Hotel in Beaumont beginning at 11 a.m.
Luncheon tickets are $175 and can be purchased online at familyportrait.givesmart.com. Table sponsorships are also available. The event not only raises funds to help with research, but it also raises community awareness.
“We want to let the entire community know that they are not alone when faced with Alzheimer’s,” said Shanna Briggs, regional manager of the Alzheimer’s Association in Southeast Texas. “Our organization has resources here in the area that those in need can take advantage of, such as caregiver support that meets every month at the R.C. Miller Library. We also have free educational programs that allows us to go out in the community to help educate companies, businesses, churches or even civic organizations. The Alzheimer’s Association also has a 24/7 helpline – (800) 272-3900 – where trained professionals can answer any question.”
Mellie Bevilacqua and Caroline Heinz are this year’s event chairs.
“Mellie and Caroline are wonderful ladies and great community leaders,” said Briggs. “Both have been affected by this disease.”
This year’s honorary event chair is Hester Bell, who quietly supports many organizations in Southeast Texas. She is on the Board of Drectors for LIT and the Babe Zaharius Memorial Foundation. Bell also invests time with the Beaumont Board of Realtors, Some Other Place where she delivers meals every week, and is a member of Great Beaumont Chamber of Commerce. She is also active in the Wesley Methodist Church.
A graduate of Lamar University, Bell is a former schoolteacher who also taught internationally in Trinidad and Venezuela. After becoming a licensed realtor in 1975, her and five ladies purchased the RE/MAX franchise in Beaumont. She has reached numerous milestones throughout her career including the recipient for the Lamar University Distinguished Alumni Award in 2023.
Her and her late husband, Milton Bell, have six children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren between them.
“Hester is a teller of our community,” said Briggs. “Not only has she been a huge supporter of the luncheon, but she also lost her father, Keller Briscoe, and sister, Lois Howell, to Alzheimer’s. We are looking forward to honoring her.”
Richard Elbein, the CEO of the Houston and Southeast Texas Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, will be the luncheon speaker.
Elbein spent more than 20 years in healthcare administration prior to joining the Alzheimer’s Association in 2002. Alzheimer’s disease is a particular passion for Elbein. His maternal grandfather lived with progressive dementia for five years prior to his death in 1998, and his paternal grandmother suffered with Alzheimer’s for many years prior to her death in 2000. He was the caregiver for his mother and aunt, who suffered from mixed dementia for nearly a decade before their passing in 2019.
According to Briggs, Elbein will give research updates as well as preventative measures that can be taken to improve health.
Those who also attend the luncheon will receive a free copy of “The Medical Journal” courtesy of Young Life Estate Sale.
Created by Ashley Richard, this perfectly sized and beautifully bound book is a practical, guided journal designed to help patients and their families organize and manage medical treatments by tracking medications, symptoms, doctor’s notes, and medical history in one place.
“We need continued support to fight for a cause that has touched our families, but also many of our friends and their families,” said Briggs. “No one is immune to its impact.”
Stats show that lifetime risk is high for Alzheimer’s at age 45 with 1 in 5 for women and 1 in 10 for men. Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s are women. Older Black Americans are about twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s or other dementias as older whites. Older Hispanics are about one and one-half times as likely to have Alzheimer’s or other dementias than older White Americans.
As the size of the U.S. population age 65 and older continues to grow, so too will the number and proportion of Americans with Alzheimer’s. By 2030, all members of the baby boom generation (Americans born between 1946 and 1964) will be age 65 or older, the age range of greatest risk of Alzheimer’s dementia. By 2050, the number of people aged 65 and older with Alzheimer’s may grow to a projected 12.7 million, barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent or cure Alzheimer’s disease.
For more information about the luncheon, email sbbriggs@alz.org or call (409) 833-1613.