Grand Island Lions holding White Cane Drive online

The Grand Island Lions Club reports it will continue the online White Cane Drive through October.

Donations can be sent directly to PO Box 71, Grand Island NY 14072.

A central tenet of the Grand Island Lions Club’s mission is to support children and people with vision and hearing impairments. One of the club’s usual means of fundraising is the annual White Cane Drive, named after the white cane that many people who are blind or visually impaired use to scan their surroundings for obstacles or orientation marks.

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the GI Lions Club is not able to hold its fundraiser in person, and recently launched a GoFundMe Charity campaign to raise $3,000 to support those in need.

Learn more at: https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/white-cane-drive. The Grand Island Lions Club says on the page that, “for more than 65 years we have embraced our mission to help the vision and hearing impaired. Children in need is also a cause we are dedicated to.

“A white cane is a device that many people who are blind or visually impaired use to scan their surroundings for obstacles or orientation marks, but it also helpful for onlookers in identifying the user as blind so as to take appropriate care.

“This year you won’t see us with the symbolic white cane on the street or outside of Tops or the banks. We will miss our interaction with you, but we must all stay safe.

“Because of COVID-19, we have been unable to engage in person to raise funds for this and other causes.”