White Cane Days

The familiar white cane with a red band at the bottom is used by blind and visually impaired persons in many countries.
Lions help to increase awareness of the use of the white cane and laws governing its use. Typically, the first weekend in October is the time the Chippewa Lions solicit funds within the community. During these times Lions help to educate the public about the aspirations, hopes and abilities of people who are blind or visually impaired.
Monies collected are used to support programs and services for people who are blind or visually impaired as well as for sight conservation. As volunteers, Lions enjoy working together to target needs in their communities. The Lions decide which projects suit these needs and when and how they are best able to address them.

WHITE CANE History
In 1921, James Biggs, a photographer from Bristol, England, became blind following an accident. Because he was feeling uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his home, he painted his walking stick white to be more easily visible.
In 1930, the late George A. Bonham, President of the Peoria Lions Club (Illinois) introduced the idea of using the white cane with a red band as a means of assisting the blind in independent mobility. The Peoria Lions approved the idea, white canes were made and distributed, and the Peoria City Council adopted an ordinance giving the bearers the right-of way to cross the street. News of the club’s activity spread quickly to other Lions clubs throughout the United States, and their visually handicapped friends experimented with the white canes. Overwhelming acceptance of the white cane idea by the blind and sighted alike quickly gave cane users a unique method of identifying their special need for travel consideration among their sighted counterparts.
Today white cane laws are on the books of every state in the US and many other countries, providing blind persons a legal status in traffic. The white cane now universally acknowledges that the bearer is blind. For specific information contact your local government office for motor vehicles.
White Cane Safety Days
To make the American people more fully aware of the meaning of the white cane and of the need for motorists to exercise special care for the blind person who carries it, on October 6, 1964, the U.S. Congress approved a resolution authorizing the President of the US to annually issue a proclamation designating October 15th as “National White Cane Safety Day.” *
In the United States, the President’s annual White Cane Safety Day proclamation may be found on the White House web site http://www.whitehouse.gov/ (news; proclamations)