Today's Hero of the Week, Max Wallack from Massachusetts, has found an artful way to keep Alzheimer's patients focused and engaged. Max became familiar with Alzheimer's when his grandmother, Gertrude Finkelstein, came to live with Max and his family after her diagnosis.
"I remember one time my parents and grandparents had to leave the house, and they told her that she was going to watch me. But then they took me aside just before they left and said, 'You need to watch her.' And that’s what happened. I was always looking out for her." He even invented a "granny booster step" to help her get in and out of the family van, and she always bragged about it to everyone she met. Even as her ability to remember other family and friends faded, she always recognized Max.
As with many Alzheimer's patients, Gertrude spent a lot of time in the hospital, which meant that Max did, too. He noticed that Alzheimer's patients frequently assembled puzzles. As Max explains, "There’s a high correlation between Alzheimer’s disease and depression, because patients don’t feel like they can accomplish anything. Giving them that sense of achievement can help them remain functionally active."
Soon after realizing this, his family's garage was overflowing with puzzles he'd collected. And after his grandmother passed away, when Max was just 10 years old, he launched his 501(c)(3) charity, Puzzles to Remember to provide puzzles to facilities that care for people with Alzheimer's disease. Max also partnered with Springbok Puzzles in Missouri to design puzzles pieces that featured, according to Springbok's Steve Pack, "pictures that were pleasing to an adult and that weren't too difficult to complete."
To date, Max has distributed nearly 60,000 puzzles to nearly 3,500 Alzheimer's care-giving facilities in all 50 states and in many other countries including Canada, Mexico, England, France, Israel, South Africa, Colombia, Portugal, and Australia. “I believe that passionate, hard work can make a difference in the world. Anyone who has the ability to help another person has the responsibility to do so”, says Max.
