Center For Vision Loss

The Center for Vision Loss is looking foward to participating again in the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community scheduled for Saturday, June 2, 2012. Registration begins at 7:45 am and the 5K Walk starts at 9 am  followed by the One-Mile Fun Walk Start at 9:15 am. The Highmark Walk brings together 23 local nonprofit organizations that deliver vital health and human service programs in our community. While there is no registration fee, all walkers are encouraged to raise funds for the organization of their choice. Highmark Blue Shield underwrites the cost of the walk, so 100% of the money raised is donated directly to benefit the organization.

We’d love to have as many donors, friends, staff and customers as possible walk on our behalf.  Our agency goal is $3,500 and, of course, we hope to surpass that! Walkers can register now by going to www.walkforahealthycommunity.org. You can register as an individual or a family or create your own team.  If you can’t make the event, register as a virtual walker! You can make your donation by credit card directly on-line, too–now that’s easy!

This year’s walk location is the SteelStacks Campus in Bethlehem.  Our walkers can look forward to a beautiful day (the walk is held rain or shine); an accessible walkway for strollers and wheelchairs; free parking and food, beverages, music and activities. You will also have a chance to win prizes valued at $1,000 collectively. For every $50 that you donate or raise in support of Center for Vision Loss, you will receive one raffle ticket.  And if you donate or raise $25 or more you will receive a Highmrk Walk for a Healthy Community T-shirt.  You can find more information at www.walkforahealthycommunity.org.  Or call Karen Huetter, Development Director, at 610-433-6018, x. 241 to find out how you can get in on the fun.

So get your feet and sneakers in gear and join us on June 2.  You’ll be glad you did!

Our 2012 Chrysalis Award Dinner will be held on Friday, October 26, 2012 at 6 pm at DeSales University. Our Chrysalis Award recipient will be Dr. Francis A. Salerno, Associate Chief of Geriatrics, Lehigh Valley Health Network. Each year, the Chrysalis Award is presented to a blind or visually impaired person who has transformed the world around them. For the past 22 years, Dr. Salerno has been a guiding light in geriatric medicine and the care of the elderly not only in the Lehigh Valley but beyond.

Dr. Salerno lost his vision at age 29 due to the complications of diabetic retinopathy. He was a first year resident at the Reading Hospital & Medical Center at the time. In 1990 he joined the Lehigh Valley Health Network as the first Chief of Geriatric Medicine. In his acceptance speech, “In Search of My Own Glide Path,” Dr. Salerno reports that he will share some lessons that he has learned from blindness that have assisted him in finding safe water on some occasions and at other times have helped him to find a glide path to safely land his plane. “The search for my own glide path has enabled me to find meaning in my own life. I will share these thoughts with you in hope that you, too, will reflect upon the meaning in your life,” stated Dr. Salerno.

Tickets for the 2012 Chrysalis Award Dinner cost $85 per person and will be avilable in late August. The ticket price includes a Wine Bar Reception and Dinner. A Silent Auction will also be featured. We are grateful to our sponsors to date: Lehigh Valley Hospital Network and PPL Corporation. Sponsorship opportunities are available. If you are interested, please click here for a Sponsorship Opportunities Form or contact Karen Z. Huetter, Development Director, at 610-433-6018, x. 241 or karen.huetter@centerforvisionloss.org.