INDIANAPOLIS - She earned acclaim portraying a woman decades before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, now actress Rachel McAdams is helping an Indiana organization fight the disease.

A Kate Spade handbag signed by the actress sold for $825 at the Old Bag Auction to benefit the Indiana Alzheimer’s Association last month, the Palladium-Item reported.

Earlier this year, event organizer Taunya Fallon wrote letters to McAdams and other actresses who appeared in the 2004 film "The Notebook," which is based on the Nicholas Sparks' novel about young lovers that a man reads to a woman who has Alzheimer's disease, to ask them to donate purses.

The auction offered 150 other purses and gift certificates and raised about $5,000 for the Alzheimer's Association.