CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings play in tournament to benefit adult day care center

Published on August 26, 2004 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


The RiverKings played in the fourth annual "Willard Ewing Memorial Golf Classic" to benefit the Page Robbins Adult Day Care Center on Thursday, Aug. 26 at the Windyke Country Club in Memphis, presented by Parker Hannifin Automotive.

The non-profit Page Robbins Adult Day Care Center helps families care for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, which can result from a variety of things such as stroke, Huntington's or Parkinson's disease.

"I'm impressed with the event," RiverKings team captain Don Parsons said. "It's been top notch. It's for Alzheimer's Disease, which is a great cause. Adult Day Care is something I was never aware of.

"As head of the Parsons' Pledge non-profit organization, my main objective is to raise awareness for organizations that people normally wouldn't think of. Today's event opened my eyes to another part of the community that I had never thought about. Not only did I have a great time out here, but I learned a little bit today."

Parsons isn't the only person who was unaware of the needs of Alzheimer's and dementia patients, said Karen Absalom, center director. Many people don't understand what adult day care is.

"It's not just babysitting," Absalom said. "We have art therapy classes, music therapy, field trips—we want these moments before the disease takes over to enrich their lives."

All proceeds from the tournament will go toward operating expenses for the Page Robbins Adult Day Care Center. The center began in 1995 when a group of people in Collierville realized they needed help caring for their loved ones, a man named Willard Ewing among them. Ewing's wife had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. As a victim of Alzheimer's, she could not be left by herself any longer.

Out of this need came Collierville Alzheimer's Services, Inc., originally housed in the fellowship hall of Collierville Christian Church. The agency grew to serve people not only from Collierville, but also Germantown, East Memphis, Cordova, North Mississippi and Fayette County.

Because of changes in state policy, the organization was forced to find a new home in 1997. Soon afterward, Ewing died, donating his Burrows home on the Windyke golf course to the center. With the seed money from his home and a donation from supporter David Halle of two acres of land on Houston Levee Rd, the organization built a 9,200 square foot building and christened it the Page Robbins Adult Day Care Center in honor of Halle's grandmother, an Alzheimer's patient.

Absalom said that the center accommodates up to 45 dementia sufferers.

"I tell caregivers that the decision to put someone in a 24-hour facility should be based on the 16 hours the family member is not with us, and the effect that time has on the caregiver's physical and mental health," said Absalom, who has worked all her professional life in geriatric nursing before coming to the center, and whose own mother died of Alzheimer's disease.

"Sixty-five percent of caregivers pass away before the person with the disease does. Caregivers are so isolated. They don't get out much because they can't leave the person alone for one moment unless they've got some relief and respite care."

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Central Hockey League Stories from August 26, 2004


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