09/12/2026
"In gaming, there's always a big bad that we fight, that we try to take down," Wes Johnson said. "And in this case, it's Alzheimer's disease."
Today is National Video Game Day, and few people know the power of a gaming community better than Wes. He has turned his voice, literally, into a force for a future without Alzheimer's disease.
Wes is known for his voice acting work on Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. As a Do What You Love to End ALZ participant, he has rallied gamers, streamers, creators, developers and fans around the world to help end Alzheimer's and all other dementia.
For Wes, the mission is personal.
"When my mother and grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's disease and dementia, I didn't know about the Alzheimer's Association," Wes said. "Fighting that by ourselves devastated us."
That experience inspired him and Kenneth Vigue of Fallout for Hope to co-found Voiceapalooza, a yearly monthlong streaming event featuring interviews, game play and performances, all to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association.
Over the past five years, Voiceapalooza has raised more than $300,000.
But the impact goes far beyond fundraising.
"My mother and my grandmother are gone, and now I am the caretaker of their memories, just as everyone in my family is. I think they'd be grateful to know that they remain alive and vibrant in our hearts," he said.
Today, Wes makes sure others facing the disease know the Alzheimer's Association is in their corner — and that they don't have to fight alone.
This National Video Game Day, Wes has a challenge for fellow gamers:
"Gamers, we need you in this fight. I don't care how you game. If it's a controller, if it's a joystick, if it's a keyboard ... Together, we can be the hero of this story. We can beat the big bad, and we can do it by doing the things we love."
Learn how to turn what you love into a fundraiser at alz.org/gaming.
