AFTD’s first Charity Miles Athlete of the Month for 2023 is Nick Rethemeier from Minnesota. He initially started running for AFTD because of a recommendation from one of his coworkers. Despite no direct connection to FTD, Nick has experience with other forms of dementia through his career, and that is a factor in his support of our mission.

One misconception about FTD that Nick wants to break down is that just because it’s a form of dementia, doesn’t mean that it can’t affect people of a young age.
“Dementia can affect people of all ages. [We need to remove] the stigma of dementia being an ‘older disease.’ [Dementia] impacts people of all ages, not just older individuals,” Nick said.

Knowing that the workouts he is putting into Charity Miles are supporting a meaningful cause is a driving motivator for Nick.

“AFTD [and the community] does a lot of good work,” he shared with us. “I have an appreciation for the work that caregivers and support share for people with FTD.”

We want to thank Nick and all our Athletes who work out for us through the Aplikacja Mile na cele charytatywne. You too can spread FTD awareness and raise funds to support AFTD’s mission by simply downloading the Charity Miles app, creating an account, and start working out for AFTD!