Huntley Area Lions Club become ‘knights of the blind’ in Huntley’s first Helen Keller Day celebration

HUNTLEY – Helen Keller is known as a historic icon for being a tireless advocate for people with disabilities, having been blind and deaf since the age of 18 months.

In 1925, Keller attended the Lions Clubs International Convention where she challenged Lions to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness,” according to the Huntley Area Lions Club president Jim Saletta. Since that time, the Lions have accepted her challenge, leading to the Board of Directors of Lions Clubs International to declare June 1 as Helen Keller Day in 1971.

To honor Keller this year, Saletta stated that the Huntley Area Lions Club will be hosting an outdoor family event at the Cole Pavilion at Deicke Park on June 27 from 1-3 p.m.

“There’s a national holiday for Helen Keller and that’s [June] 27. The Lions usually celebrate it on June 1, but we thought we’d do it on the 27 because it would be a Sunday and we can do it outdoors and you know, not have to worry about as many COVID restrictions,” Saletta said.

Lion Bonnie Bradbury helped bring the event to fruition, where attendees will be treated to a myriad of educational opportunities.

“We’re going to have a leader dog, Braille demonstration, sign language interpretation, so that’s going to be a part of it. We’ll have other displays too. It’s free. We’re not pushing donations. It’s educational,” Saletta said.

Culver’s will also be providing free scoops of custard. Additionally, parents can have their child’s vision screened for free and attendees get to have their name written in Braille on a Helen Keller bookmark to take home, to name a few of the displays.

Saletta, who would travel with his niece to countries like Mexico and Ecuador to help provide eye exams and glasses for those in need, stated that the Lions Club mission fit closely to a cause that he was close to. After having suffered an eye injury and fearing his loss of vision, Saletta’s interest with the Lions Club was sealed in continuing to help the organization spread awareness to the issue of vision loss.

“We want to make sure that people are aware of people who have vision problems and services can be provided for them. I think we want to be involved in a preventative aspect of it too. Make sure people get regular vision checks and that they do everything they can to preserve their vision,” Saletta said.

“So, it’s a preventative thing. It’s an awareness thing. Hopefully it’ll inspire people to become more involved. Maybe not as Lions, hopefully they will, but get involved in other aspects to contribute to the Lions or at least to the mission of fighting blindness.”

This is a big year for the Huntley Area Lions Club as they are also celebrating their 20-year anniversary. Having originally been known as the Lions of Sun City, the club changed its name in 2019 in an effort to serve a broader community.

“We wanted to change our name because we want to draw more members from the general community because those of us in Sun City, we’re not as active as we’d like to be. So, we need some younger folks to come in and carry on for us…It’s a volunteer organization and so we understand that people can’t be involved in everything, but we appreciate any involvement at all,” Saletta said.

The Huntley Area Lions Club prides itself in being a multi-faceted organization, raising awareness not only through their eyeglasses, hearing aids and can tab collection program, but also through various fundraisers to help veterans in need.

“I think people recognize the Lions Club when we’re out there and we’re doing Candy Day and Tootsie Pop Day on the street corner, collecting and stuff. I think people have a good feeling about the Lions Club, but might not know all the things about it. We had a problem because of COVID, we haven’t been able to do the fundraising we would like to do and so it’s kind of nice to be able to do that,” Saletta said. “Every cent that we take in, goes back out. We don’t use any of it for administrative costs. We use our own dues to pay for administrative costs.”

For more information about the Huntley Area Lions Club, individuals can visit their website at www.huntleyarealionsclub.org.