Happy holidays!  On behalf of Blind Start of America (BLINDSTART), we thank Vanda Pharmaceuticals for being visionary leaders in serving the blind and visually impaired community with their Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder Study.

Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder is a condition that affects the body’s ability to regulate a 24-hour sleep cycle. About 50% of totally blind people experience Non-24 and many go years without being diagnosed.

Non-24 Hour Sleep-Wake Study

Do you ever feel like your sleep patterns are different than the rest of the world? Do you sometimes feel the unwanted urge or need to fall asleep during the day time when you need to be awake? Do you also find that you feel just too wide awake to fall or stay asleep during the night time? If you are blind, this could be due to a real sleep problem related to the lack of light needed to keep your body's internal clock in sync [with the day and night cycle].  Visit 24SleepWake for more information.

Through new research, scientists are discovering more about this circadian rhythm sleep disorder. If you think you may suffer from Non-24, click here to participate in an online survey regarding your degree of vision impairment and sleep problems. You can also sign up to participate in research and clinical studies related to Non-24.

The "Meet the Expert" series is a 3 part audio interview series with some of the most impressionable physicians in the country. The interviews will cover a wide variety of topics related to Non-24-Hour Sleep Disorder.

The first interview is hosted by the American Council of the Blind's, Carla Ruschival.

In this informative interview, she interviews Dr. Steven Lockley, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Associate Neuroscientist, Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Hear this
interview now!

www.24sleepwake.com

Blind Start of America is featured in the December 2010 Issue of SELF Magazine, a top National Magazine for women that specializes in health, fitness, nutrition, beauty and happiness, thanks to our supporter and Blind Mud Runner Carolyn Smuts. In a special article entitled, “Get in a Giving Mood,” Carolyn shares her experience in the Blind Mud Run and how she stretched her boundaries for an awesome cause. Thanks to Carolyn, Blind Start of America has been exposed to over 5 million readers! Help share the message. Join us in 2011 in the Blind Mud Run and make a difference! 

This January, I turn 40 and I’m FEARLESS!… Run/Walk with me for VISION. Let’s break through barriers together! Register with me for the Southern CA 5K & Half Marathon in Irvine, CA. I’m recruiting 40 Runners: Sighted, Blindfolded, Blind/Challenged Athletes to run with me! Let’s make it a FEARLESS New Year!…This is my FEARLESS 40 Series leading up to the Blind Mud Run on June 4, 2011. All events support our non-profit Blind Start of America.

Wednesday ALL Day!

(May 18, 2011 11am- May 19, 2011 12am)

Meet your Friends and family at BJ’s Cerritos and enjoy our delicious flavors while earning funds in support of:
BLIND START OF AMERICA

BRING YOUR FLYER!

Click  HERE for pdf of FLYER.

Blind Mud Run 2011

Here we come!

Blind Start Of America – Blind Mud Run Training

We’ve trained. We’ve climbed walls, crawled on our stomachs, and faced our fears blindfolded while being guiding by each other. On Saturday, June 4, 2011 at the WORLD FAMOUS MUD RUN we will make history. Will be the largest organization represented that day with 120 runners, and doing something no other organization has before! We will be making it the BLIND MUD RUN- truly a VISIONARY EXPERIENCE…BLINDFOLDED.

On the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton which is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps, we will conquer a challenging 10K run with hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, two 5-foot walls with mud on both sides, tunnel crawl, slippery hill climb, and the final 30-foot mud pit. Among thousands of participants we will make a statement. We support courage in all forms. To confront the darkness whether it be caused by blindness, visual impairment or any form of disability. And we support our brave troops and veterans.

Our teams will run the World Famous Mud Run with a twist making it the BLIND MUD RUN. Help support our teams reach their $2,020 fundraising goals to help Blind Start of America.

(priority shipping & handling = $7.80)

A gift of the special green vintage BLIND MUD RUN shirt that depicts the white cane crossing with the Marines sword symbolizing how Blind Start of America supports courage.

If you are interested in making a donation in person to receive your t-shirts come to our office, please call our office at 562-282-0123.

SORRY WE NO LONGER HAVE  the BLIND MUD RUN 2011 T-shirts AVAILABLE!

Thanks to all those who made a donation. We appreciate your support!

The Loft Hawaiian Restaurant invites all of Blind Start of America’s family and friends to come out this

Wednesday, June 8th from 11AM to 11PM

to enjoy the Aloha spirit right at your table.

The Loft will donate a portion of every sale to Blind Start of America.

Go to either of two the Loft FUNdraiser locations in Torrance which will benefit

Blind Starts 50/50/50 program.

The goal is to use the money raised to train 50 disabled Americans, to find 50 jobs, in 50 months.

*If you bring the attached flyer – Blind Start will get closer to Brian Tom’s  vision of more disabled Americans in the work place, as of now only 14% of disabled Americans work and of those only 1% own their own home.

Don’t forget to bring your flyer. Click here!

Blind Mud Run Documentary Trailer

For 3 years Blind Start Of America has made their presence known at the World Famous Mud Run in Camp Pendleton, Bringing along their niche of Visionary Experiences Blindfolded. Now witness the incredible vision and growth that started with one man in 2008 to an incredible 120 participants in 2011 all bearing the Blind Start Of America name and its vision to the world.

Join us Monday nights for BlindStart Music & Wine (BMW) hosted by Brian Tom

at Jeepney Asian Grill (JAG)!

Musical Performance by OUTASIGHT.

Located at: 11900 South St, Suite 101 Cerritos, CA 90703

Every Monday night from July 25th to September 19th! (Except Labor Day)

From 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm.

Blindfolded Wine tasting starts at 7. Show starts at 7:30.

Proceeds to benefit Blind Start of America.

For more details, check out the flyer! BMW Flyer

Thanks to our Proud Sponsors

Lilly Enterprises Inc.

Rotary Club of Long Beach

BRC Advisors

Come out to The 2011 Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival

held at Marine Stadium in Long Beach on

July 30 – July 31, 2011.

***On Saturday July 30,***

The Blind Acapella Trio OutASight

will perform

at the opening ceremonies the National Anthem.

AND

Team Blind Start will be racing not one,

but TWO! boats in the VIP Race.

Come out and show your support!

“TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More!”

-Author Unknown

Blind Start of America will receive proclamations to educate and bring recognition to White Cane Safety Day all this month.

BLINDSTART receives White Cane Safety Day Proclamation from LA County Board of Supervisors

• LA County Board of Supervisors – Don Knabe on Oct. 11

• City of Cerritos on Oct. 13

• ABCUSD on Oct. 18

• City of Artesia on Oct. 24

The Story Behind White Cane Safety Day

On the 6th day of July, 1963, the National Federation of the Blind in convention assembled called upon the governors of the fifty states to proclaim October 15 of each year as White Cane Safety Day in each of our fifty states. On October 6, 1964, a joint resolution of the Congress, HR 753, was signed into law authorizing the President of the United States to proclaim October 15 of each year as “White Cane Safety Day.” This resolution said: “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives…, that the President is hereby authorized to issue annually a proclamation designating October 15 as White Cane Safety Day and calling upon the people of the United States to observe such a day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”

Then President Lyndon B. Johnson recognized the importance of the white cane as a staff of independence for blind people. In the first Presidential White Cane Proclamation President Johnson commended the blind for the growing spirit of independence and the increased determination to be self-reliant that the organized blind had shown. The Presidential proclamation said:

“The white cane in our society has become one of the symbols of a blind person’s ability to come and go on his own. Its use has promoted courtesy and special consideration to the blind on our streets and highways. To make our people more fully aware of the meaning of the white cane and of the need for motorists to exercise special care for the blind persons who carry it Congress, by a joint resolution approved as of October 6, 1964, has authorized the President to proclaim

October 15 of each year as White Cane Safety Day.

Now, therefore, I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America do hereby proclaim October 15, 1964 as White Cane Safety Day.”

With those stirring words President Johnson issued the first White Cane Proclamation which was the culmination of a long and serious effort on the part of the National Federation of the Blind to gain recognition for the growing independence and self-sufficiency of blind people in America, and also to gain recognition of the white cane as the symbol of that independence and that self-reliance.

(from White Cane Safety Day: A Symbol of Independence by Marc Maurer

http://www.nfb.org/nfb/White_Cane_Safety_Day.asp)