SPOKANE, Wash — Residents at Touchmark retirement community took advantage of the warm weather Thursday with a slip and slide all a good cause. The event is part of the community's week-long effort to raise awareness for Alzheimer's disease.
"A lot of our residents here may not be living with Alzheimer's but almost everyone in the building has a friend or loved one who's living with Alzheimer's,” Brittany Holden, Touchmark Life enrichment director said.
Throughout the week, Touchmark focused each day on an activity that highlights wellness.
The slip and slide is an activity that promotes a healthy brain.
“It’s good for your brain health to do things that are novel and new, whether that's learning a new skill,”Holden said. “Like some of our painting classes we had on Monday or whether that's doing a slip and slide, which your body just hasn't done before. It creates those neural pathways in your brain, which are really great for keeping your brain young keeping your brain healthy.”
About a dozen residents, ages 55, 60, even 87 took turns being kids again. Some family members joined as well.
“I just thought it was marvelous,” Joyce Cutler, Touchmark resident said. “I just had a great time with it. And they thought it through so it’s really safe.”
For some, this was their first time going down a slip and slide. Many of the residents said say it made them feel like a kid again.
"I wasn't nervous, that's for sure,” Cutler said. “It was fun."
By late that afternoon, Touchmark raised about $300 to put an end to Alzheimer's disease.