White Cane Days
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 “National White 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 Sequim Valley Lions Club honors this timeframe by conducting its traditional White Cane fundraiser around April and May.
McKinney - Vento
The McKinney-Vento Act provides rights and services to children and youth experiencing homelessness, which includes those who are: sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; staying in motels, trailer parks, or camp grounds due to the lack of an adequate alternative; staying in shelters or transitional housing; or sleeping in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, or similar settings.
School Health Screening
Sequim Valley Lions Club performs vision and audio screening in our elementary and middle schools. Besides a valuable time saving service, it is a lot of fun for our Lions.
We received a multi-club grant from Lions International to purchase the equipment and work with the other five clubs to screen all of the schools in our zone
"Let's Be Frank" Hot Dog Wagon
Sequim Valley Lions Club operates our Hot Dog Wagon as a fundraiser.
Our events are The Sunshine Festival, Sequim Irrigation Festival, Sequim Logging Show, Air Affair Fly-in and CERT Safety Fair, and we can be found at The James Center for the Arts on Tuesdays during the Music in the park series.
Sequim Food Bank
Sequim Valley Lions works with the Sequim Food Bank.
On Mondays we stock the bread room and on Fridays we have five lions that work in the drive thru food Bank.
We also work on Thanksgiving and Christmas Drive through’s that distribute over 800 holiday meals.
Sequim Downtown Merchants Halloween Candy Give-a-way.
Each Halloween we dress up and hand out cany at the merchant giveaway. This provides a safe and fun event for our kids, young or old. We normally give out over 1000 bags of candy.
Scholarships
Each year we award scholarships to students graduating from our local High School.
Eyeglass & Hearing Aid Financial Help
Sequim Valley Lions work with opticians and audio specialists to help those in need procure eye exams, glasses, and hearing aids.
Eyeglass & Hearing Aid Recycling
We have ten locations where you can drop off your unwanted glasses. We collect eyeglasses and hearing aids, then transport them to our Lions Eyeglass and Recycling Center (LERC). LERC grades, cleans, and sorts the glasses and then sends them with teams to other countries to fit them to people in need.
Hearing aids are refurbished and sent out as well.
DAR, Wreaths Across America
It is our pleasure to assist the Daughters of the American Revolution to set up for their annual program in December.
