Celebrating 35 Years Fighting Alzheimer’s, Supporting Care Partners
The kick-off for the AWARE Affair Boots, Buckles and Brain Health 2025 gala was graciously hosted by Gail Plummer and John Cattaneo at their home where guests enjoyed bites and cocktails in celebration of AWARE’s 35th anniversary. AWARE is a nonprofit organization that empowers North Texans to rise above the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, together.
Karen Koop, AWARE’s president, welcomed the crowd with gala chair David McDavid Jr. and recognized Greg Osler, whose late wife, Amy Osler, is the namesake of the Amy Osler Spirit of Education Leadership Award. Karen also invited everyone attending to join Friends of AWARE, as the membership drive is ongoing and she said the benefits included receptions in private homes, educational luncheon meetings, special event invitations, the opportunity to become familiar with AWARE’s Grant Recipients and more.
David encouraged everyone to mark their calendars for the gala happening on Friday, April 4, 2025 as it returns to Gilley’s for a boots, buckles and brain health evening with supporters coming together for a night fighting Alzheimer’s and supporting care partners. Guests will enjoy a delicious seated buffet dinner, dancing to The Breckenridge Band, lots of fun brain health activities, silent and live auction, and a meaningful evening with friends and family while raising money for AWARE.
Trailblazer Presenting Sponsor is Anne Davidson. Honorary chairs are Bo and Jeff Parker. Honorary chairs emeriti are Sally and Forrest Hoglund, Lee Roy and Biddie Jordan, Venise and Larry Stuart, Todd Terry and Amy Terry Kriegel honoring the legacy of their mother, Ellen Terry.
Venise Stuart will receive the Founder’s Spirit Award and Karisti Julia will receive Amy Osler Spirit of Education Leadership Award.
Tickets and sponsorships will be published soon. Check the website for updates at www.awaredallas.org
About AWARE: AWARE is a nonprofit organization that empowers North Texans to rise above the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, together. Since AWARE’s founding in 1989 by a group of volunteers, the Dallas-based organization has invested more than $14 million in local providers, researchers and innovators fighting for our loved ones and a cure. Every dollar that AWARE grants stays in North Texas to benefit the local community.
AWARE also invites North Texans to join Friends of AWARE—a community of individuals, caregivers and professionals with a vested interest in supporting the best care in our region today and hope for a cure tomorrow. Individuals navigating the challenges of these diseases—including patients, caregivers and professionals—connect, learn and advocate for solutions in North Texas.
The community can support AWARE’s mission by joining Friends of AWARE, attending its annual signature fundraiser, AWARE Affair, or making a donation. Join Friends of AWARE at www.awaredallas.org. Together with compassion and dedication we can make a difference. Instagram: @awaredallas Facebook: @awaredallas
AWARE is a component fund of The Dallas Foundation, a 501c3 publicly supported charity.
AWARE Dallas 2024-2025 Grant Recipients
Baylor Scott & White Dallas Foundation: Support toward the salary of a Care and Support Specialist at the Baylor Scott and White Memory Center. The Specialist guides patients and families with education, training, support groups, elder law, financial planning, and a 24/7 helpline.
Bishop Arts Theater Center: Support for the continuation and expansion of the Creative Aging Program. The program incorporates stories, music, visual arts, and dance to improve the quality of life for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other related dementias living in predominantly low-income memory care facilities.
Center for Brain Health: (The University of Texas at Dallas) Support for printing and distributing 1,000 copies of the Guide to Proactive Steps (GPS), a resource book for people affected by Alzheimer’s, and for developing and launching GPS seminars and one-on-one consultations.
Dallas Symphony Association: Support for DSO Cares, a series of free, one-hour concerts presented within senior living facilities and hospitals in the greater Dallas community. The program features chamber music performances by select DSO musicians who perform in duets, trios, or quartets for audiences.
For Love and Art: Support for the continuation of the Celebrating the Art Experience, an hour-long therapeutic visual arts engagement program that is presented by volunteer “Art Angel” docents in memory care facilities throughout the greater North Texas area. Docents showcase art images from partner museums around the world and stimulate conversations with program participants.
Jewish Family Service of Greater Dallas: Support for the Older Adults Program to expand in-home mental health counseling, care management, and daily living support to older adults living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, allowing them to remain living in their own home.
Juliette Fowler Communities: Support for Fowler’s campus-wide dementia care initiatives which include the Continuation of Cognitive Health, I’m Still Here®, Dementia Friendly Dallas, music therapy, and caregiver support.
NorthPark Presbyterian Church: Support for Casa de Vida, a program at the church designed to give respite relief to caregivers by providing trained one-on-one care for individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other related dementias.
Plano Symphony Orchestra: Support for Healing Notes, a program designed to provide free music-therapy concerts by professional musicians to residents with Alzheimer’s and related dementias who live in predominately low-income memory care centers.
The Senior Source: Support for Senior Companions, a program that matches compassionate and trained older adult volunteers with home-bound older adults living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias to provide respite to family caregivers and help with meals, errands, and light housekeeping.
Stomping Ground Comedy Center: Support for Improv for Caregivers, a fun and interactive program that uses improvisational comedy techniques to teach effective communication skills that are specific to the needs of individuals with Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
Texas Winds Musical Outreach: Support for the Concerts for Seniors program, which provides interactive concerts in nursing homes and adult day care facilities bringing joy, relief from isolation, and peace to individuals affected by memory loss.
The University of Texas at Dallas (Lab of Dr. Chandramallika Basak): Support for the purchase of a portable Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) system that will include physiological measures, allowing for neural and physiological data collection from various locations in the brain, add convenience to patients, and allow the expansion of the study of brain aging beyond the laboratory.
The University of Texas at Dallas (Lab of Dr. Kristen Kennedy): Support to add measures of newly discovered blood-based markers of neural and glial structural health to the University’s NIH funded longitudinal study. If these new cellular markers that are readily available from a simple blood draw can be closely linked with how well brain cells are aging or degrading, then powerful, noninvasive biomarkers can be found for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.
Wilshire Baptist Church: Support for Friday Friends, a program addressing the need to provide respite to those who care for a dementia relative at home, and who have little or no assistance for relieving them of the constant care and supervision of their loved one, while providing a stimulating day of art, music and games for the individual with Alzheimer’s.
Myrna D, Schlegel AWARE Scholarship Fund: Support for nursing students at Baylor University, Texas Women’s University, and Texas Christian University toward their studies in gerontology, especially in the field of dementia.
Photos by Rob Wythe/Wythe Portrait Studio