Helen Keller

What did Helen Keller challenge the Lions to become?

In 1925 Helen Keller addressed the Lions at the international convention in Cedar Point, Ohio.  It was there that she challenged Lions to be "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness." 

Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama in 1880.  At a young age of 18 months, she developed a fever that left her blind and deaf. 

With the help of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, Helen Keller learned sign language and braille.  A few years later she learned to speak. 

As an adult, Helen Keller became an advocate for people with disabilities.  She attended the International Convention in 1925 and challenged the Lions to become knights of the blind.  The Lions accepted her challenge and ever since have included sight programs, including  eyeglass recycle and vision screening, aimed at preventable blindness. 

In 1971, the Board of Directors of LCI, declared June 1 as Helen Keller Day.  Lions are invited to implement sight-related service projects on June 1 in honor of Helen Keller.  June 1 is a long way off, but I bet if we put our thinking caps on, we can come up with a project to celebrate Helen Keller's birthday in June of 2014.