Walking blind for a cause

ALACHUA – When the group of people was walking along the sidewalk by U.S. Highway 441 in Alachua, the noise of traffic could be noticed more easily by some than others. Without vision, the other senses they rely on had sharpened.

Saturday, Oct. 12 was the 14th annual White Cane Walk in Alachua, organized by the Alachua Lions Club. Members of the community gathered near the fire station and walked to the Alachua Boy Scout Hut to raise awareness for Florida’s White Cane laws and to educate people on the challenges the blind have to overcome in daily life.

Florida’s White Cane law requires drivers to come to a full stop when approaching an intersection where a person with a red-tipped white cane is walking.

Some of the participants wore blindfolds on the walk and had a guide help them reach the destination, simulating blindness.

At 9 a.m., the walk began.

“There’s a curb right here, angel,” said one father to his blindfolded daughter, navigating the path.

When the walk ended, activities were set up for children to learn more about how the visually impaired handle ordinary tasks.

Maxine Stallings, from the Alachua County Council of the Blind, said she hoped the White Cane Walk helped everybody realize the blind and visually impaired can be accomplished individuals like anybody else.

“We just do our daily routine a little differently,” she said.

Stallings showed the children how she pours water in a glass by putting her fingertip inside the edge and waiting until she can feel the water reach it.

Joan Miles printed out children’s names for them in braille. She has been going to the White Cane Walk in Alachua since it was started by Alachua Assistant City Manager Adam Boukari for his Eagle Scout project.

The walk shows people how much the blind have to rely on their other senses to get by, Miles said.

“They have to really tune in,” she said. “It shows them how scary it can be.”

Reginald Howard showed off an app for his iPhone that can quickly scan a dollar bill and let the visually impaired person know how much cash they are holding.

“Can you imagine someone handing you money and you didn’t know what it was?” he asked the children around him.

He put a Bluetooth headset in one of the blindfolded children’s ears, then handed him the iPhone. Howard instructed him on how to scan the money so the value could be told to him through the headset.

“It gives them an idea what it’s like,” Howard said, “but it doesn’t let them fully understand.”

Nico Marrone, 18, said the walk taught him to not take his eyesight for granted.

“We can take our blindfolds off, but they can’t,” he said.

For his work with the White Cane Walk, Adam Boukari was given the Millennium Award from the Council of the Blind.

“It’s an honor,” he said. “This has been close to my heart for the last 14 years.”

As the event ended, a young Cub Scout could be seen escorting Reginald Howard across the street to the post office. Crossing the street, he signaled for the incoming cars to stop, and they did.

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