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"To empower people with vision loss to realize their full potential, and to shape the community's vision of that potential.”
Our programs and services are designed to empower our clients to move beyond limitations.
Join us each month as we congratulate and thank our dedicated volunteers!
SPOTLIGHT VOLUNTEER
August Volunteers of the Month
The Grasselli Committee was named after Caesar A. Grasselli, an early 20th-century industrialist who generously donated his home and property on E. 55th Street in Cleveland to Cleveland Sight Center, known at the time as The Cleveland Society for the Blind. The agency had its home there until moving to its current location at East 101st Street and Chester Avenue in 1966.
Mr. Grasselli believed “charity is not merely a duty but an opportunity.” His daughter, Josephine, followed in her father’s footsteps and formed The Grasselli Committee in 1954. The committee is still active today, consisting of a group of dedicated volunteers that sponsor the Victory Circle Social Club, whose members are blind or visually impaired. Meetings of the Victory Circle are held once a month from October through May.
The Grasselli volunteers assist in developing interesting programs as well as in providing transportation to and from the club meetings which are held at Garfield Memorial Methodist Church in Pepper Pike. In addition to transporting clients, arranging menus and organizing activities, they have also become ‘family’ to social club members often looking after them beyond the meetings. The Grasselli Committee has contributed countless volunteer hours in the service of the Victory Circle Social Club, and we at Cleveland Sight Center proudly recognize them collectively as our August volunteers of the month. Thank you, Grasselli Committee members for continuing Caesar and Josephine Grasselli’s tradition of charity and good will for the members of the Victory Circle Social Club for over 50 years.
July Volunteer of the Month
In December of 1986 at the age of 74, Evelyn Boyd was actively seeking volunteering opportunities in the community when she came across a newspaper ad for Cleveland Sight Center. She immediately signed up as a volunteer, and has been very involved in the agency ever since, serving in many volunteering capacities including recording books on tape, working our Annual Fur Sale, assisting with Holiday Greeting Card orders, assembling Holiday Food Baskets and performing clerical work in Human Resources.
When asked to cite her most memorable experience here at Cleveland Sight Center, Evelyn couldn’t decide on just one and instead said, “It is a pleasure to volunteer at Cleveland Sight Center. The people are kind, caring and show great concern for their clients. It is a joy to be able to offer service to help others.” Evelyn is also a volunteer at Cleveland Clinic where she has performed clerical work for over 16 years. Her many hours of service in the community have earned her Cleveland Clinic’s Humanitarian Award and University Hospital’s Volunteer of the Year Award. When Evelyn is not volunteering, she spends her time crocheting, a favorite hobby of hers.
Prior to her over 20 years of volunteer service in the community, Evelyn worked for 33 years in education. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Baldwin-Wallace and a Master’s Degree in Music Theory from Cleveland Institute of Music, Evelyn was head of Tri-C’s Performing Arts Department. She also taught music in public elementary schools and gave piano lessons to children for only 50 cents a lesson. Evelyn is a proud member of the Music Sorority, Mu Phi Epsilon. The clients, staff and volunteers of Cleveland Sight Center are so very grateful for Evelyn’s 1,466 hours of dedicated service to the agency, and continue to be inspired by her kindness and willingness to give. Cleveland Sight Center is honored and humbled to recognize Evelyn Boyd as our July 2009 Volunteer of the Month.
June Volunteer of the Month
Joanne Becker is one of Cleveland Sight Center’s newest volunteers having begun her service to our agency in March of 2009. Unable to work due to an injury and wanting to do more with her time, Joanne contacted our volunteer office to find out what assignments were available and see how she could help. She remembered Cleveland Sight Center because her mother, who was blind, was a client. Since joining our agency as a volunteer, Joanne has been very active across several departments including Finance and HR performing data entry in addition to providing support for some of our recreation activities such as blind bowling and our annual White Cane Walk. When asked how she felt about her experience thus far, Joanne replied, “I just love being able to come to the Sight Center … I enjoy working with such nice people and getting to know the clients here.”
When Joanne is not volunteering at Cleveland Sight Center, she enjoys many outdoor activities including hiking, biking, swimming, horse-back riding, camping and fishing. We at Cleveland Sight Center extend our sincere thanks for 335 hours of valuable service, and are pleased to recognize Joanne Becker as our June 2009 Volunteer of the Month.
