San Diego Center for the Blind to Honor White Cane Day "VisionAires" October 12

Oct. 1, 2007 - PRLog -- Contact: Cheryl Bradstreet
CB Communications
(619) 692-0952
(928) 550-3668 mobile

Cathy Kirscher of the Helen Keller National Center
Featured Speaker of White Cane Day

San Diego --  Headlining a day of recognition for the blind and vision-impaired residents of San Diego, Cathy Kirscher, M.S., southwest regional representative of the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC), will serve as the keynote speaker at the San Diego Center for the Blind’s 2007 White Cane Day Recognition Luncheon.  Scheduled for 11:30 am. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, October 12 at the Prado in Balboa Park, the local celebration is in honor of national “White Cane Safety Day,” officially recognized on October 15 of each year.

“This is a day of special significance because it represents a declaration of freedom for blind and visually impaired San Diegans,” said Kim Z. Gibbens, executive director of the San Diego Center for the Blind (SDCB).

Featured speaker Cathy Kirscher has worked for the past 20 years in the field of dual sensory loss with the Helen Keller National Center, as the regional representative both in Seattle, Northwest Region, and in San Diego, Southwest Region.  She also worked for three years as an affiliate of HKNC, under a grant at Alliant International University (formerly California School of Professional Psychology), as the coordinator of Research and Training on Mental Health and Deaf-Blindness.

She became involved in the field of deaf-blindness with influence from her maternal grandmother who was legally blind from macular degeneration, and her brother-in-law who is deaf and taught her sign language in her late teens.
Honorees at the luncheon include service organization Highway Lions Club of Lakeside; volunteer Ed Brien; student graduate Cathy Gamble; Legacy Club members Robert Moore and Ray Mallot; and a special White Cane recognition award to Herbert Herzig.

Tickets for the luncheon are still available and cost $50 per person or $500 for a table of ten.  For more information, call (619) 583-1542.

San Diego Center for the Blind, a non-profit organization, is the county’s only community-based rehabilitation program, serving over 2,000 clients annually in two locations, San Diego and Vista.  An array of programs and services enable blind and visually impaired San Diegans to regain skills for daily living, employment and mobility.  It is estimated that more than 104,466 persons who are 18 years or older in San Diego County are blind or vision impaired.  As the population ages, this number is expected to grow exponentially as the “Baby Boomer” population enters this high risk group for vision loss.  At the Center, more than 85 percent of every dollar raised directly funds client programs.  For information about programs and volunteer opportunities, call the San Diego Center at (619) 583-1542 or the Vista Center at (760) 758-5956.

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San Diego Center for the Blind, a non-profit organization, is the county’s only community-based rehabilitation program, serving over 2,000 clients annually in two locations, San Diego and Vista.  An array of programs and services enable blind and visually impaired San Diegans to regain skills for daily living, employment and mobility.   For information about programs and volunteer opportunities, call the San Diego Center at (619) 583-1542 or the Vista Center at (760) 758-5956.

Website: www.sdcb.org