Tuesday night, the city will go purple. Here’s why that’s important

Three buildings in Miami will go purple in a campaign for Alzheimer’s awareness Tuesday.

The Southeast Florida Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association is calling its efforts “Paint the Town Purple.” The Freedom Tower, Miami Tower and the InterContinental Hotel are joining the organization to make Miamians are of the more than 510,000 Floridians with the disease.

The impact goes beyond those with Alzheimer’s though, as more than a million Floridians work as caregivers and the cost for caring for Medicaid patients with the disease totals $2.28 billion. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, according to statistics gathered by Alzheimer’s Association. The degenerative disease impact memory then one’s ability to function normally.

The goal of the Alzheimer’s Association is to find a cure to the disease. But putting the disease on the minds of Miamians is a great start, Robert DelPino, the head of the Miami-Dade County’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s said.

“We want people to see purple everywhere and to start to connect hat color with our cause,” he said. “If we raise awareness, we are one step closer to accomplishing our mission.”

The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is Nov. 4, 2017. To learn more visit http://bit.ly/2rx891k.

This story was originally published June 19, 2017 at 12:06 AM.