TKE to raise $240,000 for Alzheimer Research

[The1calledTKE]

Former President Ronald Reagan’s college fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon, has announced plans to raise $240,000 over the next three years to benefit Alzheimer research.



The fraternity has established a partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association to donate its fund-raising proceeds to the association’s Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute, established by the Reagans to advance research into the disease. Started in 1995, the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute funds cutting-edge Alzheimer research. The institute to date has attracted $1 million in funding for research.


The fraternity will donate money for Alzheimer research as a tribute to President Reagan, who in 1994 announced he had the disease. “President Reagan lived the mission of TKE by contributing to the advancement of society,” said Kevin Mayeux, CEO of Tau Kappa Epsilon. “Today, Frater Reagan, like many of our family members and friends, lives with this devastating disease. Now, in honor of President Reagan, all TKE members have an opportunity to aid in eradicating this disease.”


Today 4 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease. Without a research breakthrough, by 2050 that figure could exceed 14 million.


“If we don’t arrest and prevent this disease, we’ll bankrupt healthcare systems, we’ll wreck families and we’ll doom generations to a future that is very bleak,” said Stephen McConnell, interim president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association. “Research is the first step, and it can’t be taken without funding. We thank Tau Kappa Epsilon for their generosity; their hard work will help lessen the likelihood that future generations will have to endure this disease.”


The Alzheimer’s Association is working tirelessly to ensure that the nation harness its resources, both public and private, to conquer Alzheimer’s disease, much as it has mobilized against cancer, heart disease and AIDS. The association has urged Congress to increase federal funding of Alzheimer research from its current level of $598 million a year to $1 billion annually by 2004.