Blind Awareness 5K Walk October 16
5th Annual Event to be Held in Grapeland
By Jason Jones
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – October is Blind Awareness Month, and local resident Dianne Haws has once again coordinated a walk to help bring local awareness of those facing the challenges associated with vision impairment and blindness
Haws did her first awareness walk in 2017 as a solo effort. Having been diagnosed as being visually impaired in 1967, she knows firsthand the challenges facing those with varying levels of sight loss. Instead of allowing those challenges to slow her down, Haws has faced them head on and responded full steam ahead. “Many people may recognize me as the old lady who walks around with a cane” Haws said with a chuckle. Sounding nothing at all like an old lady, she detailed how she started the walk on a small scale and hopes to see it grow to a much larger annual event. Since her initial walk, she has been joined in recent years by family and friends. This year she has taken steps to see the walk grow to a larger scale.
“We have set up a route around Grapeland, starting at the City Park and going for 5K or 3.1 miles.” said Haws. “We have arranged for Police and Fire escort and have contacted the school art departments to create signs to mark the route.” Haws explained. “We hope to get the word out to have a great turnout this year.”
Blind Awareness Month launched in 2009. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “everyone, if they live long enough, will experience at least one eye condition in their lifetime”. The proof is in the numbers. An estimated 2.2 billion people around the globe suffer from some form of visual impairment or blindness – including everyone who simply wears corrective lenses. One billion of these cases could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed. We should all understand how to maintain optimal eye health and how to navigate life with visual impairments, whether for ourselves or loved ones. The goal during Blindness Awareness Month is to learn how to observe, celebrate, and advocate issues involving visual impairment or blindness.
Mrs. Haws has the ultimate goal of opening a blind school for adults in the near future. She has looked into the possibility of setting up in a wing of the former Grapeland Nursing Center which also houses the Grapeland Urgent Care Clinic. She is currently exploring ways to raise funds to see her dream become a reality. Needless to say, a great turnout for the 5K walk would be an excellent way to generate interest in her project.
The 5K walk will be held starting at the Grapeland City Park on Saturday, October 16 at 8 a.m. No registration is necessary and everyone is enthusiastically invited to attend and participate. For more information, contact Dianne Haws at (936) 687 4902.
Jason Jones may be reached via email at [email protected]
