Through the Alzheimer’s Association, Hoag and her husband were able to stay up to date on cutting edge research and choose which initiatives they wanted to support. They joined the association’s Zenith Society in 2004 with a million dollar pledge, but to Hoag, money alone was an insufficient contribution. She had once directed program development for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in New York. She also had a background in sports marketing. Hoag drew on her extensive experience and unique skills set to raise awareness and provide vital research funding. “So much of this started when a friend pointed out to me that if you were to look around, you’d find out that every third one of us has a parent or a sibling with Alzheimer’s. And yet it’s not something you talk about with other people, but why not? “We’ll all go to a charity event for cancer or for a children’s hospital, but Alzheimer’s is a hard sell. People think, why would I go for a night to hear about that?” says Hoag. “When someone says they have Alzheimer’s, it’s the end of the conversation. It’s a dismal path.” CLOSE TO HOME An estimated five million people live with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. alone, and yet the National Institutes of Health spent $661 million on research in 2015. Compare that to cancer research, which received $5.3 billion in funding—nine times as much. 50 South Bay Accent Of the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S., Alzheimer’s is the only one that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. The number of Americans with Alzheimer’s is projected to triple over the next 30 years. Current estimates reveal that 16 million caregivers provide an estimated 18 billion hours of unpaid care for Alzheimer’s patients. Yet the disease remains shrouded by a kind of code of silence. As Alzheimer’s-related dementia worsens, it becomes the thing that family and caregivers whisper about. They quietly bear the burden, trying their best to shield the sufferers from embarrassment or worse while preserving patients’ dignity as their mental faculties decline. Hoag has experienced the devastation close to home. After his diagnosis with early-onset Alzheimer’s, Hoag’s father, Vincent Murphy—a Korean War vet, equestrian and one-time president of Merrill Lynch Capital Resources, Inc.—passed in 2006. The memory of his struggle haunts her. “He was an investment banker, a CFO with Salomon Brothers,” Hoag says, “He was also a Marine who was awarded a Purple Heart; he was in a bomb blast, so who knows, maybe that had something to do with his diagnosis. They say that for soldiers who have been in a bomb blast, that’s the equivalent of 10 years in the NFL. “As the disease got worse, he would try to leave a tip and could not tell the difference between a dollar or $100 bill,” she recalls. “He lived with it for 12 years, and it was just devastating to see him in the end only barely existing and breathing.” More recently, her family learned that Hoag’s mother, Patricia, had also been diagnosed with the disease. “Mom can sometimes recognize us, but her short-term memory is gone. If you visit her, she won’t remember that 15 minutes after you’ve left,” she says, a trace of wistfulness entering her voice. “My grandmother had it, so maybe it’s hereditary. I’m one of six siblings and you have to wonder, how many of us are going to get it?” Her mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s inspired Hoag to commit fully to help fund research efforts. RAISING AWARENESS Fortunately, Mikey Hoag and her husband had built a large social network of individuals who could contribute significantly to the cause, and in 2012 she gathered a steering committee of volunteers, many of whom were also personally touched by Alzheimer’s in their own families. Together they arranged a gala that drew a host of Silicon Valley celebrities, tech leaders and executives—an event that would become a prototype for others that followed. As a practical and shrewd organizer, Hoag set out to find headliners willing to donate their services; she knew that the draw of celebrities is hard to resist when comingled with a worthy cause. That first event —“Part The Cloud”— got a boost of star power from legendary crooner Tony Bennett, who agreed to perform at the black-tie evening pro bono. He was followed by local luminaries including Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, folk legend Joan Baez and basketball star Bill Walton. “People came to see Tony, but we had an audience that we could reach, that we could touch and educate,” Hoag says. Her modus operandi from the first has been a down-to-basics approach: “I MIKEY HOAG IS JOINED BY JAY HOAG (LEFT) AND MARK SHRIVER
South Bay Accent - DecJan 2016
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