BALTIMORE — The backdrop for this year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Baltimore will look a little different, but the mission remains the same.
“We like to say it's the biggest support group of the year,” said Gabrielle Shifflett, Development Manager for the Alzheimer’s Association Maryland Chapter.
For Shifflett, the cause hits close to home.
“My one grandfather, it was a really long, drawn-out battle,” she said. “He got really combative and was in the hospital for a very long time.”
Not one, but two of her grandfathers passed away from Alzheimer’s disease.
“He’d get a little angry, like yelling at the man in the mirror but he was usually pretty calm,” she said. “He’d hide snacks in his pockets.”
There’s one moment Shifflett will never forget, even though her grandfather couldn’t explain it at the time.
"He'd always take me out onto the porch, and we'd be sitting there in Catonsville in suburbia and he'd point out and go, ‘The cows, the cows,’ and I'd be sitting there like, what is he talking about?"
After he passed, her family discovered an old photo, her grandfather holding four-year-old Gabrielle, surrounded by cows.
“We realized he was trying to recollect with me a trip,” she said. “From when we went to visit his brother in Virginia, where there were mommy cows and baby cows and he was holding me, pointing them out to me."
To honor him, Shifflett’s walk team is called “Till the Cows Come Home.”
This year, more than 269 teams and 2,300 participants are registered to walk through the zoo grounds.
Shifflett says participation is free, but fundraising helps provide care, support, and research toward a cure.
“Everything we provide is free,” Shifflett said. “It’s really important to raise awareness so people know about those free resources.”
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 127,000 Marylanders are living with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Baltimore City ranks among the top three counties in the nation with the highest rates of the disease.
“Maryland’s up there in terms of stats,” Shifflett said. “That’s why it’s so important to keep raising awareness and funds for research and the cure.”
Event Details
When: Saturday, November 1, 2025
Where: The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
Check In: 7:00AM
Opening Ceremony: 8:00AM
Walk Begins: 8:20AM
To register or donate: Visit alz.org/walk
