A sea of purple filled the grassy area of Salve Regina University's O'Hare Academic Center Sunday afternoon as hundreds of families gathered together for a 3.5 mile walk along Bellevue Avenue in Newport.

"Go on, go walk and God Bless," said Kelly Arnold, one of three chairpeople who organized the Walk to End Alzheimer's in Newport.

And walk they did. More than 75 teams totalling more than 500 people participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer's. More than 25,000 Rhode Islanders are living with Alzheimer's and there's an estimated 5.4 million Americans living with the disease.

One of those lives was that of "Big Ed" Trimble, who lost his fight with the deadly disease in November 2010. His daughter, Stacey Trimble of Narragansett, and members of "Team Trimble" raised the most money for Sunday's walk. Team Trimble raised more than $6,500 of the $62,222 raised as of 7 pm Sunday, which will go to the Alzheimer's Association.

"We are walking to celebrate and remember his grace, his kindness and let’s be honest, his amazing sense of humor," the team wrote on their donation page. "Words can’t express how much we miss him every day."

Alonna Young, team captain of team "I love you truly," said the 21 members of her team from Warwick and Cranston, RI, raised $1,010 in memory of her grandmother, who passed away in May.

While some families walked for loved ones who had passed, others walked to spread awareness, including Phylis Lorenco, who along with nearly 40 people walked for her mother Maria Lorenco. Lorenco, who has nine children, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2006.

Phylis and her siblings decided to share the role as caregiver and contribute to their mother's care. "It's very hard," she said. "But it's good because there's a lot of us and she gets the best care in the world. . .It's such an epidemic and we are afraid we and others will end up with it too so we have to raise awareness."