Ruidoso businesswoman honored

May 05--"Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death among US adults," said Rebecca Ponder. "We still don't know the cause and there is no cure. Women are more likely to have it and more likely to be a caregiver."

Ponder was recognized by Genworth Financial Long Term Care Insurance for her efforts on behalf of the Alzheimer's Association. For the past two years, Ponder has ranked among the top five agents nationwide having raised the most funds for the association. She was awarded a check in the amount of $2,000 to be used locally.

Ponder's interest in Alzheimer's disease dates to graduate school: Her dissertation was on caregiving to those with the disease. Her work in insurance often deals with planning for long-term care and, since moving to Ruidoso, she has continued to fundraise. For two years, she held silent auctions at Sacred Ground's former location at Sudderth and Mechem and, last year, she held a garage sale on the property next to the current location of the coffee house. Artists like Harvey Foster continue to donate proceeds from their works that hang on the walls of Sacred Grounds, and she plans on showing the award-winning film "Still Alice" sometime this summer, also as a fundraiser.

Julianne Moore won Academy, Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Movie awards for her performance as a Alice, a professor who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The film will be shown as a joint Sacred Grounds-Ruidoso Public Library event.

As Alice faces the effects of the terminal, degenerative disease the movie also revolves around the effects the disease has on her family. Ponder is quick to mention Alzheimer's effects on others. "Everyone I talk to has been touched by this disease," she said. "Some are family members, some are family members who know someone ... eventually, we all will be touched by it."

Ponder plans on using the award to support a regional, all-day Caregiver Conference in Roswell, as she did last year. Topics for this year's conference will include caring for the caregiver; legal issues; resources and techniques for working for people with Alzheimer's disease. The date is to be determined.

When speaking of the award, Ponder acknowledges the many people who donate to, volunteer for and support these events. She views it as a culmination in a process rather than an end in itself.

Similarly, she intends to continue her work both locally and statewide. As a member of the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Alzheimer's Association, she is one of the few people who live in a rural area in the southern part of the state and a representative of one of seven regional areas in addition to Albuquerque. As she states: "I am not unique, but I do have a unique perspective. I feel you need to tap into the people around you."

More information on Alzheimer's disease is available online at www.alz.org. For statewide resources, go www.alz.org/newmexico/.

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