WHITE CANE DAYS

History:

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 visible.

            In 1930, George A. Bonham, President of the Peoria Lions Club (Illinois) introduced the idea for 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 Peoria City Council adopted an ordinance giving the bearers the right-of-way to cross the street. News of the clubs activity spread quickly to other Lions clubs throughout the United States. 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.
           Lion Stan Bowen, University Lions Club in Seattle, is the father of White Cane Days in our MD19 local district. He was the original Chairman of this most traditional fundraiser for what was then the Washington- Northern Idaho Lions Sight Conservation Foundation. Later, the name was changed to Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight and Hearing. The Foundation eventually led to the creation of the Northwest Eye Bank which is now considered by sight professionals and Government leaders as the global leader in eye banking.

          White Cane Safety Days Official Recognition, 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 United States to annually issue a proclamation designating October 15th as “NationalWhite Cane Safety Day”.
         The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), a leading organization for the blind, has established the third week in May as “White Cane Week”. During this week, a special concentration of efforts to educate the public concerning the hopes and aspirations of the blind is emphasized.
         The Clallam Bay Sekiu Lions Club honors this timeframe by conducting its traditional White Cane fundraiser around April and May.