Raising Awareness of Alzheimer’s in the African-American Community

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For the fifth consecutive year, MEE was hired by the African American Network Against Alzheimer’s (AANAA) to help raise community awareness and promote the award-winning play Forget Me Not. This year AANAA took the play to Pittsburgh, PA; St. Louis, MO; Jacksonville, FL; and Dumfries, VA. Written by Garrett Davis, the goal of the play is to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, especially in the Black community. The play shows just how far-reaching a disease like Alzheimer’s can be, affecting not just the immediate family, but also friends and those in the community.

MEE utilized its Community Network (CN) partnerships to conduct a series of community mobilization and outreach activities, along with e-mail blasts to CN members and Facebook ads to drive attendance to the play and increase awareness of AANAA. For the first time, AANAA charged admission for two of the shows, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. MEE’s promotional activities resulted in 170 tickets sold in Pittsburgh, 110 ticket sold in St. Louis, 1,270 tickets requested in Jacksonville, and 1,860 tickets requested in Dumfries. In 2019, MEE will continue to work with AANAA on a national tour for Forget Me Not.