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Kelly Spain-Kelly and her daughter Delaney walked out onto Walker Street from Future in Sight headquarters Saturday morning.

The mother and daughter were among 500 walkers, clad blue T-shirts, taking part in the nonprofits 14th annual 3k Walk for Sight, an event which raises money and awareness for the visually impaired.

For Spain-Kelly, who works for Future in Sight, and Delaney, who is visually impaired, the walk was especially meaningful.

(Delaney) has a brain tumor, it is inoperable she has a good prognosis for longevity but she is going to more than likely lose all of her vision because of the tumor, Spain-Kelly said.

Spain-Kelly works at the nonprofit as an orientation mobility specialist, helping the blind and visually impaired learn how to navigate in their environments safely and independently. It was Delaneys diagnosis and her experience receiving help from Future in Sight that motivated her to look into the field and go back to school for it.

I called them to find out about programs for my daughter and the person I talked to actually told me about the field and so I did research and went back and got my masters degree, Spain-Kelly said. Based on that, and because of my daughter, I ended up getting hired here when I graduated.

Spain-Kelly came to Future in Sight at a time of change for the organization, formerly known as the New Hampshire Association for the Blind, president and CEO David Morgan said.

Not only has the organizations name changed its also expanded the number of people it serves, with 2,200 covered across the state, Morgan said.

The money raised at the walk is crucial for supporting its expanded services, he said.

The funds raised today will really be to support those programs and the more walkers we have, the more folks that engage, the more likely we are to expand, he said. Because even after serving 2,200 folks this year there are still 28,000 plus over the state and two thirds of them are seniors and many of them will be living alone without access to services.

Among the participants in the race was Glen Booth of Loudon.

Booth, 78, was a fifth year participant in the event, but was walking with his great granddaughter for the first time this year.

Its going to be great, shes carrying one sign, Im carrying the other, he said. I have lazy eye blindness and I know what visually impaired people are going through because of it.

Randy Pierce, the chairman of Future in Sight, told Saturdays crowd that people that were visually impaired should be empowered to live whatever lives they wanted.

I dont have sight I hope the lesson you have, that all of us have learned, is that if your sight is impaired, your vision doesnt have to be impaired, he said, addressing the walkers. Your future can have a beautiful vision if you just look at the world differently.

Spain-Kelly echoed Pierce, saying Delaney was living as normal a life as possible.

She is a spunky little girl and is always happy and positive and really never complains about the treatments, she said.

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Community members turn out in droves to Walk for Sight, raise awareness for visually impaired - Concord Monitor

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