As a way to support Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, the Stanly County Senior Center is inviting the community to come out for a Purple Parade drive through from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday.

“If you have lost someone to this disease, know someone who is currently affected, or would just like more information then dress in your best purple attire and drive through to show your support,” Senior Services Director Becky Weemhoff said.

All proceeds will to to the Alzheimer’s Association. There will be prizes, goody bags, giveaways and promotional materials. People can also sign the name of a loved one a large stock ribbon and they will be posted all month on the doors of the Senior Center.

Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, with more than 5 million people living with the disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. The disease also kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.

In North Carolina, there are 180,000 people age 65 and older with the disease and 479,000 people serving as unpaid family caregivers, according to Senior Center Programs Supervisor Aleshia Holland, who is in charge of the in-home services program and deals with many clients who have Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.

Holland also leads a group that normally meets each month called Caregiver Connections, which involves people caring for loved ones, including those with Alzheimer’s.

“We’re going to have fun with it,” Holland said about the event.

All of the staff at the senior center will also be decked out in purple, she said.