Press Room

The Alzheimer's Project offers support for those in need

June 25, 2009- by Janes Smith, Special to the Chronicle. The Alzheimer's Project, Inc. exists to provide support for caregivers caring for persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Through support groups, respite opportunities, counseling, case assessment and training, APT is doing its small part to keep your community functioning. What's the best part about the Alzheimer's Project? While some say it's the support groups tta meet throughout the month with delicious meals, others say it's the respite oppotunities; whether in-home or facility based. In my humble opinion it's the price for services. That's right, the price. Since its inception in 1992, the Alzheimer's Project has never charged a caregiver for services. Indeed, every service is provided free of charge, including Project Lifesaver. Project Lifesaver is a fantastic resource for familes whose loved one's are prone to wandering (which 70% of Alzheimer's patients will do at least once during the disease state). In cooperation with the Leon County Sheriff's Office, the Pilot Club of Tallahassee, and the Alzheimer's Project, this service pro-actively searches for wanderers through radio frequency should the patient ever wander away and the caregiver cannot find them. Is there really a need for the Alzheimer's Project? The Alzheimer's Association notes there are approximately 5 million Americans that are devastated by this disease, of those 470,000 are Floridians. Projections suggest by 2050, 14-16 million Americans will be affected by Alzheimer's and it will be the number one cause of death. We are not just a Leon County organization, we also provide support groups in Monticello, Quincy and Havana. We are also establishing a facility based respite room twice a month in Crawfordville starting in June. Please know, you are not alone in this struggle. We exist to serve you and your families. Call or visit us on the web at 386-2778 or alzheimersproject.org. James Smith is the Education and Training Director for the Alzheimer's Project.

Gretchen Everhart students, from left, Adam Creamer,Paul Chafin and Julius Emmanuel, are the first to use the new chairs donated by the Pilot Club of Tallahassee. Pilots are, from left to right, Claire Mikko, Karol Schneider, Lucretia Thomas, Jane Furlong, Jane Parker, and Myra Blanchard.

Tallahassee Pilot Club receives grant to support Gretchen Everhart School June 18, 2009- by Claire Mikko. The Pilot Club of Tallahassee received a matching grant in the amount of $1,743.00 from the Pilot International Foundation to purchase two Rifton High Back Mobile Chairs for Gretchen Everhart School. The Rifton Chairs will aid the students' with developmental abilities to learn and practice lifetime skills such as walking, sitting and standing. These are necessary skills to live a healthy productive life. Since 1935, the Pilot Club of Tallahassee has been committed to improving the lives of the citizens of the local communities and surrounding areas. Gretchen Everhart School is special to the Pilot Club of Tallahassee because the school is named after Gretchen Everhart, one of our former Pilot members. Gretchen Everhart was also the school's Principal.

Jane Parker, President; Belinda Mizell, Director; Karol Schneider, Treausrer; Claire Mikko, President Elect; Pam Schilling, Vice President; Jane Furlong, Director; Bridget Dervish-Gonzalez, Past President; not shown, Yvonne Salfinger, Secretary (Photo taken by Carol Wolfe)

Pilot Club of Tallahassee 2009-2010 Installation June 17, 2009- by Claire Mikko. The Pilot Club of Tallahassee recently held its 74th officer installation. New Officers are: Jane Furlong, one-year Director; Bea Mizell, two-year Director; Yvonne Salfinger, Secretary; Karol Schneider, Treauurer; Pam Schilling, Vice President; Claire Mikko, President-Elect; Jane Parker, President; and Bridget Dervish-Gonzalez, Immediate Past President and Director. The Installation was conducted by Lucretia Thomas. Our club was chartered in 1935 and is affiliated with Pilot International. We support a wide range of community service projects dealing with brain-related disorders. We also educate children on how to protect their brains through a puppet show program known as BrainMinders. We have partnered with The Alzheimer's Project, Inc. and the Leon County Sheriff's office for Project Lifesaver, a proactive wanderer recovery program. In addition, we sponsor Anchor Clubs at Leon and Chiles High Schools and Maclay School. Visit our website at www.tallahasseepilot.org

76th Annual Pilot International Florida District Convention, Tampa Florida

April 24-26, 2009-Pilot Club of Tallahassee are Award winners at Florida District Convention

Outstanding Brain Injury or Disorder Projects Award (25 or less members)

1st Place - Pilot Club of Tallahassee

2nd Place - Pilot Club of Fort Pierce

(26 or more members) - 1st Place - Pilot Club of Fort Myers

Outstanding BrainMinders Program Award (25 or less members)

1st Place - Pilot Club of Tallahassee

2nd Place - Pilot Club of Fort Lauderdale

3rd Place - Pilot Club of Palatka

26 or more members - 1st Place - Pilot Club of Fort Myers

Newsletter Award

1st Place - Pilot Club of Tallahassee

2nd Place - Pilot Club of St. Lucie County

Patriotism Award

1st Place - Pilot Club of South Brevard

2nd Place - Pilot Club of Daytona Beach

3rd Place - Pilot Club of Fort Pierce

Outstanding Anchor Club

1st Place - Pace High School (sponsored by Pilot Club of Milton)

2nd Place - Miami Springs Senior High (sponsored by Pilot Club of Miami)

3rd Place - John Carroll (sponsored by Pilot Club of Fort Pierce)

For half a century, she's fought brain disorders

October 23, 2008 - "Live to be 100" guest has another accomplishment to add to her name.

In 1958, Lillian joined the Pilot Club of Tallahassee, founded in 1935 as a community service organization whose focus is the prevention of breain related disorders.

Little did she know at the time that she would now be with the club for 50 years. At the September Pilot Club meeting, Lillian was presented with a 50-year certificate, 50-year pin, and a congratulatory letter from Pilot International in Macon, Ga.

Pilot International was founded and chartered in 1921 as an international service organization. The riverboat pilots of the early 1900s are the inspiration for the name. These pilots were admired for their ability to steer a "true course" through challenging conditions and obstacles.

Members are proud to be "Protecting our brains for life," teaching children to "Play Safe and Play Smart," through our BrainMinders puppet presentation, partnering with local law enforcement to provide Project Lifesaver in our communities to help find wandering Alzheimer sufferers, Down Syndrome and Autistic citizens, as well as thousands of other local and worldwide projects and opportunities.

The Pilot Club of Tallahassee honors Lillian Cox for being a dedicated member for 50 years. From left, Agatha Muse-Salters, Pilot Club of Tallahassee president, Lillian Cox and Pat Furr, Florida District, Northwest Region Lt. Governor.

Special to the Northeast Chronical, Tallahassee Democrat

Pilot Club Sponsors BrainMinders Program

August 28, 2008 -Members of the Pilot Club of Tallahassee recently puton the BrainMinders program, a Pilot International signature project focused on traumatic brain injury and brain disorders, to students at Gretchen Everhart School and to children at the Boys and Girls Club of the Big Bend.

The award-winning program uses puppets to teach children how to play safe and play smart.

The children received activity books and crayons to take home with them. Club members also fitted and distributed 20 bicycle helmets at Gretchen Everhart and 90 helmets at the Boys and Girls Club.

The Pilot Club of Tallahassee spearheads efforts in understanidng brain disorders.

Members help the local community by participatng in the Second Harvest Food Bank, the Salvation Army Sharing Tree, an annual Alzheimer-disease eduation and training conference, Project Lifesaver, KidsFest, local health and safety fairs. The club also conducts a coat and blanket drive for the Shelter.

The club sponsors Anchor Clubs at Maclay School and Leon and Chiles high schools.

To learn more about the Pilot Club of Tallahassee, please go to its Web site, www.tallahasseepilot.org. Special to the Northeast Chronicle published by the Tallahassee Democrat.

August 28, 2008 -Agatha Muse-Salters and Claire Mikko, members of the Pilot Club of Tallahassee, joined more than a thousand Pilot members from all over theworld at the Pilot International/Pilot International Foundation (PI/PIF) Annual Convention in Phoenix, Ariz. In addition to business meetins and workshops, convention attendees took part in the "PIF Walk", a fundraising event held to increase awareness of brain injury and brain-injury prevention. Proceeds from this event and other fundraising activities went to support the work of Pilot International Foundation in the areas of brain-related research and education. Community briefs, Northeast Chronicle published by the Tallahassee Democrat.

October 18, 2007 -re the 40th anniversary of the founding of the YMCA: "The Tallahassee YMCA was chartered in 1952, spearheaded by a group of dedicated citizens who believed in the values promoted by the YMCA and who wanted to make a positive difference in the community. Our charter board reads like a "Who's Who" of 1950s Tallahassee." The fifteen charter board members included two Pilots: former Florida District Governor Alice Chambers, who served as personal assistant to several presidents of FSU; and Carolyn Krentzman, whoc was employed by FSU for 26 years and had a lounge at the Oglesby Student Union named fr her in 1996. Wilson Cogswell, husband of Pilot Margaret Cogswell, was also a charter member.

Source: summary by Pilot member Jane Furlong for the November Deck Chatter of article written in the Eastside Chronicle published by the Tallahassee Democrat.

Project Lifesaver: Bikers rally to help
October 12, 2007 - It's been painful for Dave Ferrell to watch his 89-year-old father, a strong-willed man, stop recognizing faces of people he knows. Ferrell began noticing symptoms of Alzheimer's in his father five years ago. The dementia has caused his father's memory to slowly deteriorate. “It just gets progressively worse,” said Ferrell, a sergeant with the Tallahassee Police Department. Ferrell attended Sunday's Alzheimer's Project third annual poker run fundraiser, which the organization hosted with help from the Pilot Club, a community-service organization and the Leon County Sheriff's Office. The purpose was to raise money for Project Lifesaver, an organization that trains law enforcement to find people who go missing, such as people with Alzheimer's who wander from their home. The money will be used to purchase tracking bracelets for Alzheimer's patients in Leon County. Ferrell said his father has wandered from his house a few times, but luckily it has not been a frequent problem. Now, Ferrell keeps alarms on the doors that lead outside. “Until you experience first-hand what people go through, you really don't understand how important this organization is,” Ferrell said. Linda Summerlin, a board member for the Alzheimer's Project and Pilot Club member, said, “It's hard when the parent becomes the child. It just breaks your heart.” At the poker run, about 75 motorcyclists drove 100 miles along a route with four stops where they picked up playing cards for a chance to improve their poker hand. It began at Famous Dave's restaurant on Capital Circle Northeast and ended at J. Lee Vause Park on Old Bainbridge Road. “It's a very worthwhile cause,” said Bobby Brantley, a former lieutenant governor of Florida, who was wearing a blue tie-dye Harley Davidson shirt. “It's something you can do for the community and have fun at the same time. Anybody with a motorcycle always looks for an excuse to ride.” Last year, the poker run raised nearly $18,000. Organizers won't know how much was raised this year until it is tallied today.

By Nic Corbett DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

No planes for the Pilot Club of Tallahassee, just charity work
August 2, 2007 -The Pilot Club of Tallahassee recently held its 73rd officer installation. New officers are: Valencia Salters Jenkins, one-year director; Carol Wolfe, two-year director; Claire Mikko, recording/corresponding secretary; Jane Furlon, treasurer; Bridget Dervish-Gonzalez, vice president; Agatha Muse-Salters, president-elect; Belinda Mizell, president; and Yvonne Salfinger, immediate past president and director.

The Pilot Club, chartered in 1935, is part of Pilot Internation, a worldwide service organization founded in 1921.

Our club supports a wide range of community-service projects dealing with brain-related disorders. We also educate children on how to protect their brains through a puppet-show program known as BrainMinders.

We have partnered with The Alzheimer's Project Inc. and the Leon County Sheriff's office for Project Lifesaver, a proactive wanderer-recovery program. This program provides tracking bracelets for Alzheimer's patients and autistc children. In addition, the Pilot Club of Tallahassee sponsors Anchor Clubs in three local schools: Maclay School, Leon High School and Chiles High School.

The Pilot Club of Tallahassee is always looking for new members. Please contact membership@tallahasseepilot.org for more information or visit our website, www. tallahasseepilot.org.

In Tallahassee, Florida, USA, the Pilot Club of Tallahassee..
October 28, 2008 -In Tallahassee, Florida USA, the Pilot Club of Tallahassee presented several sessions of teh "BrainMinders Buddies" prgram to elementary school students. A signature project of the Pilot International worldwide service club, the "BrainMinders" prgram educates childres on injury prevention and safety, with a focus on the importances of avoiding head injury, through a puppet show and coloring book with tips and activities. During their presentations, the Tallahassee Club mad ehte program more interactive by asking students questions about their brains and for their impressions on what the puppets were representing.

The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, Summary Report of Global Activities, Brain Awareness Week, March 10-16, 2008

Wakulla County Sheriffs Office Receives Funds for Project Lifesaver April 29-2007 Alzheimer's Foundation Gives WCSO Funds for "Project Livesaver". The Wakulla County Sheriff's Office has received a $5,000 check from the Alzheimer's Foundation of America in support of "Project Livesaver." This money will cover the cost of ten Project Livesaver radio transmitter bracelets and maintenance for those bracelets for one year. Project Lifesaver relies on proven radio technology and a specially trained search and rescue team of Deputy Sheriffs. Persons enrolled in the program wear a personalized wristband that emits a tracking signal. This program is a rapid-response, proactive partnership with local law enforcement aiding those suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, dementia and other brain related disorders such as Down's Syndrome and autism. The program is sponsored by the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office with referrals coming from the Wakulla County Senior Citizens Center. Sheriff Harvey said, "It's another initiative that allows us to better provide a level of protection and safety for seniors in Wakulla County." Project Lifesaver Search and Rescue teams were called into service as recently as February of this year. The Sheriff's Office received a call in the morning hours of February 4, 2007 from the son of a bracelet recipient informing the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office that his 89 year old father had wandered from home. Specialized electronic Search and Rescue teams arrived on scene and located the man in approximately 28 minutes. Project Lifesaver of Wakulla's projected funding needs in 2007 total $11,000. All funding for this project is received through donations and grants.

www.wakulla.com

Annual Alzheimer's Disease and Education Conference
March 31, 2007 -The 22nd Annual Alzheimer's Disease Education and Training Conference for care-givers and professionals will be presented from 8 am to 3 pm March 31 at the FSU College of Medicine, 1115 W. Call St. The keynote speaker will be Huntington Potter, PhD, CEO and scientific director for the Johnnie B.Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center & Research Institute. There will be nine other speakers from the professional and caregiver field. It's free and is open to everyone. ...The event is presented in cooperation with the FSU College of Medicine, the TMH Neuroscience Center, the Pilot Club, the Area Agency on Aging and the United Way.

Tracking bracelets put to the test: Area law enforcement officers learning how to use Project Lifesaver
June 8, 2006- What if you were lost and couldn't remember how to find your way home? Law-enforcement officers prepared for helping people in that scenario Wednesday when they received training for Project Lifesaver. The program gives people with Alzheimer's disease and children with autism or Down syndrome a radio-transmitting bracelet so they could be found if they were to wander off.

Seventeen people from the sheriff's offices in Alachua, Franklin, Leon and Wakulla counties combed Messer Park, off Jackson Bluff Road, practicing search-and-rescue skills using receivers that pick up signals from the bracelets. The Leon County Sheriff's Office is the facilitating agency for the state and will begin to train more agencies in Florida this year. Currently, 40 people in Leon County are wearing the bracelets.

Project Lifesaver has a 100-percent success rate, said Bill Knight, a trainer for the program who came from Norfolk County, Mass. Since 1999, all 1,704 people who were wearing the bracelets and were lost were found safe, Knight said. If a person is missing and isn't found within 24 hours, he or she is half as likely to be found alive, he said.

Leon Deputy Jay Vaughn knows the stress that caregivers face and the diminished recognition that those with Alzheimer's have because his grandmother had the disease. "She's from Tennessee. She still thought she was in Tennessee (after she had moved to Florida)," Vaughn said. "There's no way that she could have recognized anything. She wouldn't have lasted 24 hours."

The program has been in Leon County since March 2005. Last year, the local Pilot Club, Alzheimer's Project of Tallahassee, and the County Commission donated $15,000 for the project, which enables residents to receive the service for free. It costs the Sheriff's Office about $300 to outfit a person. The receivers used by law enforcement cost about $5,200, Vaughn said.

Anyone interested in getting a bracelet can call the sheriff's offices in Leon County at 922-3300, in Franklin County at 627-2113 or in Wakulla County at 926-7171. Contact reporter Daniela Velazquez at (850) 599-2161 or dvelazquez@tallahassee.com.

By Daniela Velazquez DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

March was Brain Injury Awareness Month

March 2006 - Each year in the United States, approximately 1.4 million persons sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI); of these persons, approximately 50,000 die, 235,000 are hospitalized, and 1.1 million are treated and released from emergency departments. In addition, according to a 1999 report, an estimated 5.3 million persons in the US have a long-term or lifelong need for help in performing activities of daily living as a result of TBI.

MMWR Weekly, March 3, 2006/55(08);201.

Project Lifesaver Kickoff
June 29, 2005 - Commissioner Tony Grippa will "get lost" this Wednesday. But thanks to a new program called Project Lifesaver - it won't take long to find him!

Outfitted with a watch-sized bracelet on his arm, Commissioner Grippa will be easy to locate. This new technology allows Alzheimer's patients to be fitted with a special bracelet which transmits a signal. If the patient happens to wander, the Leon County Sheriff's Office can locate him in under thirty minutes. Caregivers and family members can now breathe a little easier and worry just a little bit less if they are caring for a wanderer...

20th Annual Alzheimer's Seminar
Feb. 26, 2005 - Caregivers, supporters and family members of Alzheimer's patients gather yearly to discuss the disease and the progress in treatment. Not only is the most recent research presented but also extremely helpful information for caregivers who often times do not receive any training when caring for a family member with Alzheimer's...

MEMBERS OF PILOT CLUB LEAD THE WAY IN COMMUNITY ACTION July 29, 1999

For many victims of brain-related disorders, darkness is all too familiar. The process of navigating through the unknown brought on by a disease such as Alzheimer's demands beacons of wisdom and love. To provide such beacons of hope, Tallahassee's Pilot Club offers support and guidance through the journey. ''The Pilot Club's mission is to provide for the community,'' said Jane Parker, the club president who...