On May 22, Lexington High School’s Youth Movement Against Alzheimer’s (YMAA) club hosted Purple Palooza at the Lexington Community Center. The occasion brought together students and community members for an evening of entertainment and fundraising in support of Alzheimer’s awareness and research.  

Purple Palooza featured a variety of activities for attendees of all ages, including face and nail painting, hair tinsel, kinetic sand, a photobooth, karaoke, bingo, and board games. Attendees also enjoyed a live performance by Onomotopoeia, one of LHS’s a cappella groups, and complimentary food and drinks donated by local businesses. 

In addition to recreational activities, Purple Palooza highlighted the educational mission of YMAA. Susan Antkowiak, Vice President of Programs and Services for the Massachusetts/New Hampshire chapter of Alzheimer’s Association, spoke about the scientific aspect of Alzheimer’s and recent developments in research. 

Proceeds from the fundraiser were donated to Hilarity for Charity, a national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting families impacted by Alzheimer’s and advancing brain health research and education. The organization works to raise awareness among younger generations while funding programs that provide resources for caregivers and patients.

Throughout the school year, YMAA holds workshops and meetings to educate students about Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive neurological disorder that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. 

“We’ll do one or two meetings a year where we [simulate the symptoms of Alzheimer’s],” Sophia Le, a junior at LHS and president of YMAA, said. “We did a training for how to interact with someone with Alzheimer’s where we had one person play the patient, and one person play the volunteer. The patient only had limited information they could say to simulate memory loss.” 

Members of YMAA hope to increase awareness of Alzheimer’s among younger generations and encourage healthy habits that may reduce future risk. 

“Alzheimer’s is something that we can build healthy habits to help prevent,” Agnes Broderick, YMAA’s director of communications, said. “By gaining awareness about habits that we can build from a young age, we can improve our lifestyles in the future and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.”

Purple Palooza was YMAA’s final event of the school year and was an opportunity to connect with the broader Lexington community. Members of the club coordinated with businesses and organizations in Lexington to make the event possible. 

“I have … gotten in touch with different groups for donating food. We got Mario’s to donate some food; Via Lago donated some food as well,” Broderick said. 

One challenge that club leaders faced was promoting the event within the LHS community. Mainly, they reached out to teachers and students and encouraged them to spread the word about the Palooza.

Broderick and Le hope Purple Palooza strengthened community involvement and increased awareness of YMAA’s mission. 

“We’re just really excited to show our accomplishments as a club. This is […] an end-of-year thing where we show how much our club can do and how much we can impact our town,” Le said.