Posted October 13, 2026
It often starts with something small — a morning walk, trivia night with friends, or a round of golf … ordinary moments that are transformed into a force for good after someone asked the question:
“What if we turned this into a fundraiser to support Alzheimer’s research?”
For Jess and Bob Rice, a passion for running quickly became a local 5K road race to honor Jess’s mother, Carol Caley, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Thanks to research, like studies funded by Cure Alzheimer’s Fund® showing exercise helps protect the brain, Bob and Jess also knew that the race would benefit everyone who participated.
The inaugural Jog Your Memory 5K took place in 2014, bringing together 200 runners and raising more than $10,000 for Alzheimer’s research. Today, Jog Your Memory has grown into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, with a dedicated board and dozens of volunteers, that welcomes between 600–1,000 in-person and remote runners for its annual event in Needham, Mass., each fall. To date, the race has raised more than $2,000,000, with 80% of proceeds directed to CureAlz. In addition to supporting innovative research through CureAlz, Jog Your Memory also awards grants to local families in honor of Dick Caley, Jess’s father and Carol’s devoted husband and caregiver.
“We chose CureAlz as our partner because they are unique and special: small, actionable, accessible, and where money raised gets put to work immediately. There is a high accountability regarding the use of funds, amazing leadership from the founders, and the organization offers a constant stream of information to donors as scientific advances are made,” say Bob and Jess. “We hope, one day, not to need to have a race, but to gather together instead to celebrate the achievement of finding a cure for this disease. And we have high hopes.”
Jess and Bob Rice encompass what it means to be CureAlz Heroes — individuals and groups who use their time, interests, and passions to raise funds and advance foundational Alzheimer’s research. After so many successful events, Jog Your Memory has grown from a small fundraising 5K into an engaged, dedicated community helping to accelerate research toward a cure.
Just as community fundraising creates an impact one connection at a time, research progress also grows through hundreds of smaller moments of scientific discovery. A single experiment can lead to new insights that, down the line, inform a larger dataset — and, from there, move the field in a new direction. In research, like in fundraising, progress is cumulative — and every contribution moves the field forward.
“The support of Heroes like Jess and Bob empowers us at CureAlz to invest in the most promising bold ideas and new hypotheses as they emerge — ideas that could open new paths toward understanding, treating, and ultimately curing Alzheimer’s disease,” says Meg Smith, CEO of CureAlz. “Their generosity is vital to our work; together with the Jog Your Memory community, we can run faster and farther toward a future cure.”
Support at all levels enables the time, technology, and talent needed to advance Alzheimer’s research. Contributions ranging from $50 to $50,000 enable research to progress, funding everything from the purchase of everyday lab essentials like pipette tips and sample tubes, to underwriting hours of high-powered computing time or the work of technicians processing samples to generate meaningful data, to funding entire investigations that are validating new therapeutic targets.
What if the next breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research began with something small? A game with friends. An evening jog. A tennis match. Step by step, dollar by dollar, and discovery by discovery, you can help build momentum — like Jess and Bob — toward an end to Alzheimer’s disease.
Consider putting your passions, talents, or even your business to work for Alzheimer’s research. Get started by visiting give.curealz.org/hero to set up a personalized fundraising page or reach out to our team at [email protected].
And — there’s still time to register for Jog Your Memory this year or to make a gift and support a runner! Click here for more.
