As the baseball great Jackie Robinson said, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Scott Cole, a former college baseball player and Bankers Life Branch Sales Manager in Greensboro, N.C., is taking Jackie’s advice to heart by helping increase awareness about Alzheimer’s disease.
Bankers Life has had a longstanding commitment to Alzheimer’s Awareness. This year they are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Bankers Life’s continued support of the Alzheimer’s Association through its national Forget Me Not Days® campaign.
“At Bankers Life, we see firsthand the impact that Alzheimer’s and all other dementia have on our customers, their families and their caregivers. Through our Forget Me Not Days campaign and community events like these, we can provide awareness and hope for a world without Alzheimer’s.”
Scott Goldberg
president of the consumer division at CNO Financial Group
& board member of the Alzheimer’s Association Illinois Chapter
This commitment has always aligned well for Scott Cole, who first participated in the campaign when he started with the company back in Indiana. But his motivation runs even deeper. As early in life as a young child, Scott can recall visits to the nursing home to visit extended family members who were living with dementia, but it wasn’t until he joined Bankers Life and learned about Alzheimer’s and long-term care planning that he was able to piece together the impact the disease must have had on his own family back then. This personal revelation, coupled with the experiences of his clients, has fueled Scott’s passion for the work his company is doing to raise awareness about the impact of Alzheimer’s and all other dementia.
“I’ve got tons of clients with parents who had it [Alzheimer’s] or their spouses. And it’s pretty devastating,” said Scott. For example, he had a client he’d gone out to see and then six months later, had no idea who he was. “Just to see that impact, how quickly it happened, was astonishing.”
Take me out to the ball game
For the last seven years, Scott has lived in North Carolina, and is now the branch sales manager for the Bankers Life office in Greensboro. Their office overlooks the stadium for the minor league baseball team, the Greensboro Grasshoppers. And so, it dawned on the former University of Indiana Screaming Eagle pitcher that there was a perfect way for their branch to increase their engagement with the Forget Me Not campaign and the Association. “It’s time to do something big, and we feel like this is our chance to make an impact,” said Scott.
Bankers Life is a Global Team for the Alzheimer’s Association’s The Longest Day campaign. So as part of those efforts, Bankers Life is hosting “Alzheimer’s Association Awareness Nights” at Greensboro Grasshoppers home games. During three specially themed nights, fans are encouraged to wear purple at First National Bank Field. All Alzheimer’s Association supporters are invited and encouraged to come out and show the community that they are not alone.
Forget Me Not Alzheimer’s Awareness Nights
June 3 – vs. the Wilmington Blue Rocks
June 17 – vs. the Hudson Valley Renegades
June 24 – vs. the Asheville Tourists
In looking forward to the plans for these awareness nights, Scott said, “This is such a great way to have thousands of fans sitting there, and get them really focused and engaged [in the mission of the Association].” He’s also loved seeing the excitement these plans have ignited in others in their office around Alzheimer’s awareness, just like it did when he was a new Bankers Life associate in Indiana.
Ultimately, Scott articulates what everyone at Bankers Life wants, “I want people to know they are not alone. There are a lot of resources and other people that deal with it. I think some people believe that they’re just on an island, but there’s groups out there that people can go to and talk about it….and can make things a lot easier.”
LIKE SCOTT AND BANKERS LIFE, WE ALL HAVE A REASON TO FIGHT FOR A WORLD WITHOUT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. Simple plans up to big ideas – Start planning your own The Longest Day Fundraiser today.
The day with the most light is the day we fight! Leading up to and culminating on The Longest Day – the summer solstice, thousands of participants from across the world will come together to fight the darkness of Alzheimer’s through an activity of their choice. Together, they will use their creativity and passion to raise funds and awareness for the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer’s Association®. Whether participating at home, online or in-person, we have plenty of fun ideas to engage family and friends in The Longest Day.
Alzheimer's Association North Carolina Blog 
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