Caregivers call it the club no one wants to join.
Come Glow With Us is a campaign designed to shed some light on the thousands of primary caregivers around the world who give up their time and compassion to care for people with Alzheimer's and other terminal illnesses.
In the next decade the number of baby boomers across Canada will grow exponentially and the Glow With Us campaign is trying to make people more aware of the role caregivers play.
"There is a tsunami of seniors coming with the baby boomers becoming older and the government isn't doing enough about it," said Cindy Britten, one of the co-founders along with Jennifer St. Hilaire.
In 2006, St. Hilaire, found herself taking care of her mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's while at the same time was battling cancer. She was overwhelmed and was looking for someone who would understand the difficulties of talking care of someone with Alzheimer's.
She ended up finding the online forums at the Alzheimer's Canada website.
It was there she met Britten, who was a caregiver to both of her parents in their final years. This year will be the first time St. Hilaire won't see the strings of light, she passed away in December.
Her daughter Christine, from Prince George is taking up the cause in memory of her mum.
"The focus is always on the afflicted, but this disease claims two victims," said St. Hilaire. "It compromises primary caregivers in all aspects of their lives - it can destroy other family relationships, destroy the primary caregivers health, their careers, their retirements, their futures, their finances, their time, their mental and emotional well being and devours all their strength and resources and puts them into isolation and hopelessness."
On Oct. 1, homes around the world will light a string of Christmas lights to honour those that give so much of themselves.
Last year, more than 23 states and eight provinces were lit up, as well as people in Ireland, England, Scotland, Iceland and Australia.
The Caregiver Glowers are asking people to string a strand of lights somewhere prominent, and turn them on at 8 p.m. in B.C.
Every hour that night, new sets of lights will glow at 8 p.m. in each time zone.
"We chose October 1 because it was far enough away for Christmas time that people wouldn't be expecting to see lights strung-up so early," said Britten.
The campaign began in 2006, to mark the 100th anniversary of Dr. Alois Alzheimer, who discovered the plaques and tangle brain traits associated with Alzheimer's disease.
In 2010, there were 35.6 million people living with dementia in 2010. It's estimated this number will increase to 65.7 million by 2030.
For more information on how to participate in the event to shed light on caregivers, visit www.alzheimerglowers.webs.com.
