The
Canadian Helen Keller Centre
Award & Annual Dinner |
CHKC
Annual Fundraising Awards Dinner & Awards Presentation
Ontario Science Centre
Friday, April 28, 2006.
Starting
in 2005, the Canadian Helen Keller Centre (CHKC) began recognizing
pioneers and leaders in the fields of visual impairment, Deafness
and Deaf-Blindness with The Canadian Helen Keller Centre Award.
Jim Sanders C.M.
President and CEO, CNIB
Recipient of 2006 CHKC Award
Jim Sanders has spent his entire career with the CNIB
where he has been tireless in his efforts to improve the quality
of life for visually impaired and deaf-blind people living in
Canada and around the world. Jim Sanders has been eager to get
out one central message to Canadians from coast to coast; “Blindness
is not a never ending tragedy if blind and visually impaired
Canadians possess the appropriate skills and cultivate the right
attitude.
Born with severe glaucoma, Jim was expected to be blind
by six or seven although he didn’t actually lose all his sight
till his mid-thirties.
Starting with a weekend job at a CNIB smoke shop at a
local Thunder Bay hospital at the age of 15, Jim has been working
with the Institute, one way or another, ever since.
Jim believes the CNIB is the one indispensable organization
for this country’s increasingly vibrant blind community. We
believe that Jim’s contribution to the CNIB has earned the respect
of all of us.
Jim was recently awarded the Order of Canada.
At the event, CHKC will also be screening “Black”, a
contemporary version of the Helen Keller story that follows
a Deaf-Blind student's journey from the inception of understanding
to finally graduating from university. Click
here for details about the movie "Black".
Please consider attending the 2nd Annual Awards Dinner
in support of Jim Sanders, CHKC and of people who have become
Deaf-Blind. Tickets may be purchased by contacting
CHKC at deafblindinfo@onramp.ca. Please
click here for the event flyer.
| Recipient
of 2005 CHKC Award |
Joan
Mactavish has worked for 38 years as a pioneer and activist
for the development and delivery of specialized services for
the deaf-blind.
Joan graduated from University of Toronto and began
her career as a high school English teacher.
In 1967, Joan took on the unprecedented role of interpreter,
tutor and guide for Mae Brown, a young deaf-blind woman working
on her Bachelor of Arts degree at U of T. With Joan's constant
support, Mae achieved her dream, becoming the sixth deaf-blind
person in the world and the first woman since Helen Keller to
earn a university degree. Joan has documented Mae Brown's remarkable
life in her book "Bravo! Miss Brown"..
Following
Mae's untimely death in 1973, just a year after her graduation,
Joan has carried the torch by developing deaf-blind services
for CNIB, helping develop George Brown College's intervenor
training program and guiding Rotary Cheshire Home's board in
developing a barrier free home with 16 apartments for deaf-blind
people. She was instrumental in setting up the Canadian Helen
Keller Centre.
Joan continues to support the movement started by Mae
Brown so that "all who are deaf-blind will receive the
support they require to be participating members of society".
There is much left to be done to ensure that the extent
of this population and their need for services is recognized.
To read Joan's acceptance speech click here.
