WILLIAMSTOWN — The 2025 Mid-Ohio Valley Walk to End Alzheimer’s will be held Saturday at Tomlinson Park in Williamstown.

Registration is 8 a.m. Opening ceremonies will be 9 a.m. with the two-mile walk beginning immediately after.

This year has a fundraising goal of $80,000 with $36,919 currently raised.

As of Tuesday, there were 57 teams registered with a total of 280 participants signed up to take part.

The event is to help raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support, and research programs. The Walk also supports the free local programs and services that help families facing the disease and also supports research to drive advancements that give these families more time through treatments.

The event is a fundraising event for the Alzheimer’s Association, said Teresa Morris, program director for the West Virginia chapter. People can find information about fundraising at www.alz.org/wv.

People can also bring donations they collected the morning of the walk, she added.

“We have (many) people in West Virginia and Ohio with Alzheimer’s and dementia,” Morris said. “Our association is the largest fundraiser to fight the disease.

“The money we raise goes to providing local support groups, local education programs, advocacy, research and other resources across the state.”

For the first time, the number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S. is more than 7 million, according to a press release from the Alzheimer’s Association West Virginia Chapter.

In West Virginia, more than 38,100 people live with Alzheimer’s. In Ohio, there are 236,200 people living with the disease aged 65 and over.

West Virginia’s mortality rate of 47.7% is significantly higher than the national average, according to the press release. Deaths due to Alzheimer’s more than doubled (142%) between 2000 and 2022.

The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support, and research, according to the press release. “Currently in a new era of treatment, we’re closer than ever to stopping Alzheimer’s,” the press release said. “The community is needed to help fight this disease that currently has no cure.”