Our motto is:

         Give Parkinson's the SAC!  Stay

                     Mentally Stimulated,
                  Physically Active, and
                      Socially Connected!

The Parkinson’s Support Group of Green Valley/Sahaurita was formally organized in 1992. We are affiliated with the American Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA), http://www.azapda.org/, which has an office in Tucson.

That same year, we received our first grant from the Country Fair White Elephant. We’ve received a grant from that organization every year since then. We are very grateful for this, since it allows us to focus on providing services rather raising operating funds.

We also are grateful for the support we get from the Arizona Chapter of the APDA. Cynthia Holmes, Coordinater of the Parkinson's Disease Information and Referral Center at the University of Arizona, has been our mentor from the beginning. She keeps us up to date on Parkinson’s Disease research and provides us with program ideas for our monthly educational meetings.

In 1996, our group organized and sponsored a day-long seminar called Lunch and Learn, which was held in Rio Rico. With the support of Cynthia Holmes PhD and the Arizona Chapter of the APDA, this seminar has grown in size and scope. Today, it is a major event organized by the APDA and sponsored by our group, pharmaceutical companies, home health care companies, and more. Now called Power over Parkinson’s, it is held yearly in March in Green Valley. It is open to the public and attended by people with Parkinson’s and their partners/caregivers from all over southeastern Arizona.

In 2005, the Power over Parkinson’s program became a beneficiary of the El Tour de Tucson. None of our group was prepared to ride even a short distance in the El Tour, so in November of 2006, Gary Morris organized the El Tour de Green Valley! The idea was that members would do the amount of physical exercise they could, after which we would auction off home-made box lunches, with the proceeds going to fund research.

Thirteen of our members met at the Green Valley Rec Satellite Center on Abrego that November. Several members rode their bicycles (most were recumbant bikes) from the center down to the Torres Blances golf club.  Mariana Oliver did the stretch several times! Others walked the distance they could. The box lunch auction brought in over a hundred dollars. We had another such event in November of 2007. Then in 2008 we renamed the event Activity Day and moved it to April, which is Parkinson’s Awareness Month.

Our first Activity Day was held April 21, 2009, at the Presbyterian Church. This free event offered chair exercise, board games, bingo, a short bike ride, and box lunches. We raised around $2000, all of which went to Parkinson’s research. In 2010, we added a remote broadcast by KGVY 1080 and expanded the silent auction—and we raised $5000!

With such a remarkable achievement, we have a lot to live up to, but thanks to the time and effort of our members, we look forward to contributing more, not only to research, but also to our members and to our community.

Our Gratitude

Country Fair White Elephant |
The White Elephant Thrift Store
The White Elephant is a local non-profit thrift store in Green Valley, Arizona. Donations of all kinds are accepted so the store has a large variety of goods for sale. Because of the nature of the community, the quality of merchandise is much higher than most resale shops. With over 300 volunteers operating the store, overhead is minimal and a large percentage of the money is returned to the community in the form of donations to local causes and charities. In 2010, 1.4 million dollars were given to 127 worthy organizations and schools. Our Parkinson's Support Group was privileged to be among them.

The grants we have received from White Elephant allow us to provide services without charging a membership fee or raising funds to cover operational costs.
Some of the services we offer are:

    1. Free exercise classes at Valley Presbyterian Church
    2. Power over Parkinson’s conference
    3. The Parkinson’s Post newsletter, printed September-May.

We offer our sincere thanks to this wonderful organization for its many contributions to the people of our area.