The Coronado Lions Club and Coronado High School (CHS) Leo Club are celebrating the annual White Cane Day on Saturday, October 29, to educate the public about the meaning of white canes and to raise funds for efforts to assist individuals that suffer from blindness or other sight difficulties. This annual effort goes back to Helen Keller’s challenge to Lions. The public can also bring used eyeglasses to the white cane day event, in front of the Coronado Post Office from 9am-12 noon and both Vons’ entrances from 9am-4pm.
In 1925 Helen Keller spoke to the Lions International Convention and challenged Lions to become the Knights of the Blind in the Crusade Against Darkness, a challenge the Lions Clubs readily accepted and are still trying to fulfill today. Later, George Bonham , a Lion in Peoria, Illinois, hand painted the first white cane so that sighted people who saw the distinctive red and white colors would recognize the cane users’ challenge as blindness.
Coronado Lions Club White Cane Days events have raised funds for the San Diego Center for the Blind, the Braille Institute, the Lions Optometric Vision Center (LOVC), and the Seeing Eye Dogs of the Desert. Additionally, the Coronado Lions Club collects used eyeglasses donated by the public, cleans them, and through Lions Club eyeglass fairs and the LOVC in San Diego, provides the eyeglasses free of charge to those that cannot afford eyeglasses.
The Coronado Lions meet monthly on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 6:30-8:00 pm at rotating sites around Coronado. The CHS Leo club meets monthly at lunchtime at CHS. Both organizations welcome new members and/or donations. Anyone who would like information about either the Lions or Leo clubs, can visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CoronadoLionsClub/Â or email the club at [email protected].
Source: Coronado Lions Club
