We represent a combined force of agencies who work all year long for visually impaired persons.
By working together we hope to benefit the agencies that help every day all year long.
To make the American people more fully aware of the meaning of the white cane and of the
need for motorists to exercise special care for the blind person who carries it. On October 6,
1964, the U.S. Congress approved a resolution authorizing the President of the US to
annually issue a proclamation designating October 15th as
“National White Cane Safety
Day.”
Thank You!
Once again Vision Awareness Foundation, Inc. is planning a walkathon.
The purpose is to celebrate National White Cane Day and to raise funds to assist organizations to continue their work helping people who are blind or visually impaired in the Southwest Florida area.
They help with education, rehabilitation, advocacy, equipment and transportation.
Vision Awareness Foundation, Inc.
Board of Directors
President
Joyce Gilbert
239 995 7722
Vice President
Lois Kilgore
239 549 5378
Secretary
Geraldine Fleischer
239 443 6036
Treasurer
Sue Wild
239 997 7797
Chairman of Publicity
Glenn Sabatka
Division of Blind Services
Chris Sheeham
Blinded Veterans Association
Robert Walcak, Director
Cape Coral Lions
Geraldine Fleischer, President
Visually Impaired Persons Center
Freda VanPelt
Southwest Fl Council of the Blind
Lois Kilgore
North Ft Myers &
Ft Myers Beach Lions Club
Joyce Thornton Gilbert
Glenn Sabatka
Cost of participation:
Each walker will contribute $20.00
and receive a t-shirt, door prize ticket, and refreshments.
The organizations that assist people deal with visual problems receive no financial assistance from national programs and state funds have been cut back. Therefore, we are asking for your sponorship in recognition of White Cane Day. All funds received will be divided equally between the participating organizations listed below. Each organization has a least one person working on this committee.
- Blinded Veterans Association
- Cape Coral Lions Club
- Ft. Myers Beach Lions Club
- North Ft. Myers Lions Club
- Radio Reading Services
- Southeastern Guide Dogs
- Southwest Florida Council of the Blind
- Visually Impaired Persons of Southwest Florida, Inc.
- Vision rehabilitation training
- Eye surgeries and exams
- Glasses and magnifiers
- Provision of canine travel assistance
- Transportation to events and meetings pertaining to vision issues
- Advocacy with vision issues
- Free radio access to newspapers and current literature
American Legion Pine Island, FL
Cape Coral Eye Center
Cape Coral, FL
Eye Center of Florida
Eye Health of Ft. Myers, FL
Ft. Myers Beach Lions, Fl
North Ft. Myers Lions, Fl
SW Fl Council of the Blind
Gerome Conrad
Pittsburg, PA
Ladies of the Elks
Cape Coral, FL
Walton & Felicia McDuffie
North Port, FL
Retina Consultants of SW Fl
Val Ward Cadillac of Ft. Myers, Fl
In 1921, James Biggs, a photographer from Bristol, England, became blind following an accident. Because he was feeling uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his home, he painted his walking stick white to be more easily visible.
In 1930, the late George A. Bonham, President of the Peoria Lions Club (Illinois) introduced the idea of using the white cane with a red band as a means of assisting the blind in independent mobility. The Peoria Lions approved the idea, white canes were made and distributed, and the Peoria City Council adopted an ordinance giving the bearers the right-ofway to cross the street. News of the club’s activity spread quickly to other Lions clubs throughout the United States, and their visually handicapped friends experimented with the white canes. Overwhelming acceptance of the white cane idea by the blind and sighted alike quickly gave cane users a unique method of identifying their special need for travel consideration among their sighted counterparts.
Also in 1931, in France, Guilly d’Herbemont recognized the danger to blind people in traffic and launched a national “white stick movement” for blind people. She donated 5,000 white canes to people in Paris.
Today white cane laws are on the books of every state in the US and many other countries, providing blind persons a legal status in traffic. The white cane now universally acknowledges that the bearer is blind. For specific information contact your local government office for motor vehicles.
