UK Sanders-Brown Hosts 25th Annual Foundation Dinner
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 16, 2011) - The University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging is "Racing to Fund Alzheimer's Research" with their annual Foundation Dinner, to be held Oct. 13, 2011, 6 p.m. at the Kentucky Horse Park Alltech Arena. The dinner, in its 25th year, is attended annually by approximately 600 people.
Each year, the dinner hosts a guest speaker who is either an example of successful aging or who has a personal connection to Alzheimer’s and age-related diseases. Previous guest speakers have included such well-known figures as Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, John Wooden, Barbara Bush, Colin Powell, John Glenn, Bob Dole, Art Linkletter, Willard Scott, Lauren Bacall, Andy Rooney, Hugh Downs, Newt Gingrich, Ed McMahon, Dr. Pearse Lyons and James W. Host.
This year's speaker will be Kate Chenery Tweedy, the daughter of Penny Chenery, "First Lady of Racing" and owner of the famed race horse Secretariat. Tweedy, the author of “Secretariat’s Meadow: the land – the family – the legend," will share her unparalleled perspective on her mother's story and Secretariat's rise to Triple Crown fame.
“I couldn’t be more excited to return to Lexington and help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Center on Aging Foundation Dinner. It is a pleasure to help with the fundraising efforts of Sanders-Brown Center on Aging so they can continue their world-class work in Alzheimer’s and dementia research and programs," said Tweedy.
The dinner will fund internationally recognized research ongoing at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, where researchers are engaged in the battle against Alzheimer's disease and other age-related illnesses. Individual tickets to the dinner are $150 each, with proceeds benefiting SBCoA. Corporate and individual table sponsorship are available starting at $1,500. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the SBCoA Foundation at (859) 323-5374 or lisa.greer@uky.edu for reservations or more information.
For 2011, two inaugural events have been added to the schedule, making the dinner into a three-day celebration of healthy aging and aging-related research. Beginning on Thursday, Oct. 13, the SBCoA will host the William R. Marksbery Senior Star and Centenarian Awards Luncheon at the Hilton Downtown Hotel in Lexington; on Friday, Oct. 14, a scientific symposium will be held in the new Pavilion A Health Education Center at the UK Chandler Hospital; and on Saturday, Oct. 14, a community symposium will be held in the Hilton Downtown Hotel.
The Center on Aging has been conducting research on Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and other aging-related concerns for more than 30 years. America's population is aging, resulting in significant economic, social, educational and health challenges to the well-being of our nation. The UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging is at the forefront of this challenge. Through a gift from the Eleanor and John Y. Brown Jr. Foundation and a matching grant from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging opened in 1979 and is one of 10 original National Institutes of Health-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers. Today, the center is an internationally prestigious research center.
The center is dedicated to advancing the well-being of the elderly. Its major goal is to support healthy aging. It is at the forefront of research on prevention, early diagnosis of dementing diseases and studies on the causes of those diseases. The center also is one of five Commonwealth of Kentucky Centers of Excellence and is a recognized leading center.
Foundation board members from around Kentucky personally support the center and serve as ambassadors for it in key areas. Private contributions have helped raise the center to its current level. UK’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Foundation helps secure private gifts for the center’s important work. In its lifetime, this fundraising organization has made progress in obtaining support from corporations, foundations and individuals. Although every source of funding is important, private support through charitable gifts has become more significant than ever because of the increased costs of research and uncertain funding from state and federal sources. Private donations allow the center to sustain and develop new and innovative clinical research projects and to develop patient and caregiver programs that will lead to key advances in both the treatment and prevention of diseases that affect the elderly.
MEDIA CONTACT: Allison Elliott, allison.elliott@uky.edu
TICKET AND SPONSORSHIP CONTACT: Lisa Greer, (859) 323-5374 or lisa.greer@uky.edu