Last February, a class from California School for the Blind visited LightHouse Industries in San Leandro. They’ve given us permission to reprint the article they published in their June 2013 newsletter.
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A field trip to the LightHouse for the Blind
by Tracy Soriano
On Thursday, February 21, 2013, Nanako Yamada’s class, along with mobility instructor Cheryl Besden and Tracy Soriano, went on a field trip to the San Leandro LightHouse for the Blind.
We toured the facility, where they showed us how they made individual toilet paper packets for MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) for the military. Each MRE contained: a meal, napkin, utensil and small toilet paper packet.
The most interesting thing that we liked about the facility was:
Ashley: She was intrigued by the size of the toilet paper roll, which was taller than she was, and how they turned it into a small individual toilet paper packet that she could fit into her pocket. She stated that she would not be interested in working in such a facility mainly because she didn’t want to have to relocate to the Bay Area from her current residence.
Dakota: The most interesting part about the facility for me was the conveyor belt that is used to move the toilet paper around. I don’t think I would be interested in this type of work mainly because of relocating to the Bay Area as well.
Travis: The most interesting thing about the facility for me was the machine that the operator used to slice the toilet paper into smaller sections so that they would fit into their packaging. I would very much like to work in this facility at some point in the future. I would like to work there because it is a job that I feel I could do easily as a visually impaired person.
Arthur: The most interesting thing about the facility was meeting Jerry and his dog and watching him put the giant roll of toilet paper onto the conveyor belt so that the operator could cut the toilet paper into thinner pieces to be put into small packets. I think that I would be very interested in working at this facility, because it’s close to my home and it is a job that I could see myself doing.
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Reprinted from California School for the Blind’s Braille Bites newsletter, with permission.
