During her 12 years as a long-term care insurance agent, Annemiek Storm has found that more than 50 percent of her clients suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Many are unable to receive insurance due to pre-existing conditions. Over the years, the families Storm met increasingly affected her, each facing the difficult experience of watching a loved one slowly lose their memories. “It’s devastating,” Storm attests, adding that the cost to families is not solely emotional, but financial as well. “It’s a real disaster for the families, and a significant issue for the country.”

In 1999, she began participating in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s event, later founding the Annemiek Storm Alzheimer’s Research and Education Endowment Fund as a means to make her own contribution to the cause. She compares her participation to the act of throwing a rock in the water. “The ripples spread out,” she explains. “You have to start close to where you are. If everyone would do that, all the ripples would start overlapping.” In addition to her work with Alzheimer’s, she is an avid supporter of CASA, a child advocacy organization, as well as the Boys & Girls Club. “It’s about the Golden Rule,” Storm explains. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That’s all there is to it.”

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