TYLER, Texas — An Olympic gold medalist will be the featured speaker for the Alzheimer’s Alliance of Smith County's Butterfly Hope Luncheon in September.
Laurie Hernandez, who earned a gold medal for gymnastics in 2016 and served as a commentator at this year’s Paris Olympics, will share the story of her grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
“We are thrilled to have Laurie come and speak at our luncheon this year,” said Rebecca Smith, marketing and education coordinator for the Alliance.
The luncheon fundraiser will be Sept. 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Willow Brook Country Club.
Sponsorships are still available and a limited amount of tickets go on sale Aug. 22. People can call the Alzheimer’s Alliance at 903-509-8323 for more information, according to the press release.
Smith said that roughly one in three seniors over age of 65 will have some sort of dementia in their lifetime.
“We are just scratching the surface of the need in Smith County, and the funds raised by this event will help us continue what we are doing as well as potentially adding more services in the future,” she said.
Hernandez earned gold and silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. She also won the Mirror Ball trophy on “Dancing with the Stars” Season 23. She released her first book titled “I Got This: To Gold and Beyond” chronicling her journey thus far was published in 2017, hitting the New York Times Best Sellers list. She wrote the children’s picture book, “She’s Got This," in 2018.
She is the first U.S. born Latina to make the U.S. team since 1984. She was a gymnastics analyst for Peacock and the Olympic Channel for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.