Two Leamington musicians are hoping to raise $10,000 for the Alzheimer's Society of Windsor and Essex County to honour of their late mother Anne.
Tim King partnered up with vocalist Jody Raffoul and his brother Darren to form Feast of Kings and released the song Your Happy Place as part of their album Conflicted this Mother’s Day.
The song written by Tim, who's also the lead guitarist, is a fitting way to remember his mother and those battling dementia.
"Writing the song was therapeutic. My mom was musical, in the end she could no longer speak, but she could still whistle and hum a melody," says King, who says she started showing signs of dementia at just 68 years old and lost her battle with the disease five years later at 73.
Feast of Kings will be donating 25-cents from each download of the song to the ASWEC and will also be collecting donations and selling t-shirts as they tour this summer.
Donating money to the ASWEC is a way to ensure those who helped his family through a difficult time can continue to help others, he added.
"I was deeply moved and inspired by my mother's nurses and personal support workers," says King. "They are the ones on the front line of this never ending battle against dementia. Their ability to comfort each person while retaining their dignity seemed angelic."
An estimated 564,000 Canadians are living with dementia and that number is projected to spike by 66% to 937,000 over the next 15 years — more than 7,000 living in Windsor-Essex, according to the Alzheimers Society of Canada.