Eleven-year-old Jessica Lavorgna decided to raise money for Cure Alzheimer’s Fund for her 6th grade class project. Each student developed a project to change or improve the world. Jessica raised money in memory of her grandmother, Olga. “I chose to change the world by raising money for people who have Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is a disease where you sort of live in the past; you have a great long-term memory but a bad short-term memory. You can’t remember your grandkids or friends you recently made at the golf course. I would know, my grandma didn’t remember my sister or me. It was sad to know all the times we spent together were washed out of her memory. My grandma died of Alzheimer’s. The last couple of months of her life were hard. Whenever I went to see her she wouldn’t remember me.
“I would be just another face walking around the hospital. That’s why I want to raise money for research on the cure of Alzheimer’s,” wrote Jessica. To raise money, Jessica sold flannel pajama bottoms at $30 per pair and donated the proceeds—more than $1,200—to Cure Alzheimer’s Fund.