PB Lions Club gift to help vision-impaired LC students
A new gift for the Lethbridge College from the Picture Butte Lions Club will allow more support for people furthering their education, but have eyesight limitations.
The College received $50,000 through the Lions Club Ron Le Claire Memorial Award, named after a longtime Picture Butte Lions Club member, which will be used to create scholarships for students who are blind or visually-impaired.
“It is our pleasure to support students right here in southern Alberta who face barriers in their education due to vision impairments,” said Doug Jackson, Picture Butte Lions Club board member, in a release.
“You often hear people say, ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ That’s why itwas important for us to partner with an institution that is giving individuals the tools necessary for success.”
Visually-impaired students at Lethbridge College get support for their education by the LC’s Accessibility Services department, providing them with flexible, innovative and collaborative learning opportunities by developing a plan to help them achieve academic success.
Accessibility Services offers a wide range of support for diverse learners, including those with physical, sensory, learning and developmental impairments. The college only gets somuch funding to support these services, which makes The Lions Club gift a great contribution to supporting students who depend on the assisted services.
“The government funding we receive diminishes quickly, but our needs are ongoing,” said Karma Black, Accessibility Services co-ordinator. “Donations like this not only bring the community closer together, but help raise awareness to some of the challenges that people face on a day-to-day basis. We have a great institution at Lethbridge College and the Lions Club contribution has made it possible formore people to receive a barrier-free education.”
In 1990, The Lions Club launched an initiative to aid those affected by vision impairments called Sight First. They have do nated more than $346 million to restore sight and prevent blindness internationally aswell as donated countless hours working on the cause.