Gene Taylor, NDSU athletic director, is the honorary chair for the 2012 North Dakota Association of the Blind’s “Walk for Vision.”

The walk is scheduled for Saturday, April 28, at the Bison Sports Arena. Registration will begin at the south entrance of the building at 9 a.m., with the walk starting at 9:30 a.m. The Bison Sports Arena is located west of North University Drive between 16th and 17th Avenues North.

Having celebrated its 75-year diamond jubilee anniversary last year, North Dakota Association of the Blind has a long history of community service in the state. The association is a nonprofit membership organization that offers service programs to help people and families affected by blindness. Proceeds from the walk are the primary funding source for service programs the association offers to people who have visual impairments.

Area Lions clubs, service clubs, eye care providers, business and corporate entities are sponsors of the “Walk for Vision.” The East Cass Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has committed supplemental funds and is a prime sponsor for this year's walk.

Approximately 2 to 3 percent of the residents of North Dakota, or more than 13,000 state citizens, are blind or have a visual impairment that cannot be corrected. Even though people are blind or have limited eyesight, the North Dakota Association of the Blind proclaims “life will go on after the Big E.” That statement implies that even though one’s eyesight may have diminished to the point where they are unable to see the big E on the eye chart, there is much that can be accomplished if there is motivation to take on the challenges that blindness has imposed on a person’s life.

For further details or to participate in the “Walk for Vision,” call co-chairs Allan Peterson at 429-7209 or Missy Miller at 298-8091.

NDSU is student focused and committed to its land-grant mission.