Thank You Archives - LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired

The LightHouse wishes to thank its devoted friends and community partners who have recently shown their support by providing significant funds to help our programs go further and reach higher:

The Alcon Foundation – for Enchanted Hills Camp
The Annunziata Sanguinetti Foundation – for Community Services (SF Youth only) and Enchanted Hills Camp Scholarships
Jennison Assuncion – for Technology Training
Lisa Carvalho and David Mager – for the Campaign for a 21^st Century LightHouse and General Support
Simon Cherry – For youth scholarships to Enchanted Hills Camp
Core Financial Corporation – to support Yoga at our Changing Vision Changing Life immersion sessions
Delta Gamma Fraternity/UC Davis – Delta Chi Chapter – for Enchanted Hills Camp
Joan Dove – for the Campaign for a 21^st Century LightHouse
The Fong’s Initiative – for the Campaign for a 21^st Century LightHouse
Francis North Foundation – for Enchanted Hills Camp
Elizabeth Freer and Michael Headley – for the Campaign for a 21^st Century LightHouse
Genentech – for Changing Vision Changing Life programs
Herbst Foundation – for the Herbst 10th Floor Reception and Community Learning Center
Mark Cavagnero Associates – for the Campaign for a 21^st Century LightHouse
Mutual of America – for the Campaign for a 21^st Century LightHouse
Rotary Club of Napa – for Enchanted Hills Camp through Cycle for Sight 2016
Salesforce – for the Campaign for a 21^st Century LightHouse and General Support
Michele Spitz – for Superfest and to underwrite tickets to cultural events
Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute – for the Campaign for a 21^st Century LightHouse
Todd Stevenot and Anne Sandbach – for the Campaign for a 21^st Century LightHouse
Toyota Partner Robot Group – for the Innovation Lab Sponsored by Toyota

Last Friday LightHouse brought together as many as 1,000 blind marchers and their colleagues, friends and extended families. As we paraded down Market Street, holding banners, dancing, shouting —led by the ever-festive Extra Action Marching Band – each of us felt an immense sense of pride and privilege to be part of this vibrant, strong and diverse blindness community. We walked side by side with friends from organizations far and wide, such as Guide Dogs, California School for the Blind, the Hatlen Center, the Earle Baum Center, the World Institute on Disability, the Paul K. Longmore Institute university professors, blindness educators, along with attorneys, political figures, entrepreneurs, technologists and the many other community leaders who turned out for this unforgettable event.

A woman cheers in front of a LightHouse banner — photos by Chelsea Dier

At the end of the parade, it couldn’t have felt more right to finally cut the ribbon and pour into LightHouse’s new headquarters, filling each room with activity. Guests explored our student residences, experimented with Arduino and soldering in the STEM lab, passed in and out of our many communal spaces and, most of all, enjoyed each other’s company and excitement.

What kicked it all off, though, was the speeches on the steps of City Hall; which we are proud to be able to present to you in full on the above video. In addition to these few moments from social media and our photographers on the ground, we will continue to share the memorable sights and sounds throughout the week.

We’ve already seen a tremendous response on social media, but we’d like to continue to hear about your favorite memories from the event. Send your observations, photos, sounds and videos from Friday’s celebration to us on Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox or email.

Thank You

Thank You to Our Community Partners

Thank You for Marching: A Recap of our Grand Opening Day