Support our new “Healthy Living” program
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be a challenge. But it’s even more challenging if you live with vision loss. A sedentary life can increase the chance of weight gain, heart disease and diabetes. With your support, BALANCE can help blind and vision impaired adults make active living a reality.
What is our new program?
In 2006, we launched this program as our new fitness and recreation initiative. The first focus was to expand our existing programs in daily living, orientation & mobility, and community access. As a result, more BALANCE participants are curious about getting active and asking for instruction in exercise routes, meal planning, and connecting to sports and fitness programs.
In 2007, we began our popular presentation series on adaptive recreation activities—yoga, sailing, tandem cycling, running, cross country skiing, curling, and walking clubs. Today more and more adults with vision loss are using new walking routes, picking up a sport, and joining gyms and recreation centres.
What lies ahead?
Our goal for 2008-09 is to expand our Healthy Living program and community outreach by adding the services of a nutritionist and a recreation coordinator. Your gift of sponsorship can help us to:
- deliver online workshops on healthy eating, recreation, and fitness to blind and vision impaired adults in Toronto and across Canada
- augment our website, Braille, and large print resources on healthy living
- promote accessibility to large centrally located gyms
- work with BALANCE instructors to build fitness and healthy lifestyle choices into skills training—using a white cane, for example, as a stretching tool, and cooking with low fat recipes
How you can help
Support BALANCE today in making active living a reality for blind and vision impaired adults.
On March 15th, 2009, BALANCE For Blind Adults will be participating in the 10th Annual Achilles St. Patrick’s Day 5K Run/Walk.
This event is an annual event hosted by Achilles Canada - a non-profit organization that encourages people with disabilities to participate in the spport of running. Last year, BALANCE had over 30 team members participate in the Achilles event and we’re expecting an even greater turnout this year!
In order to participate in the Achilles Walk/Run, a $30 registration fee is required. Some of our team members live on fixed incomes and this initial cash outlay can be difficult to manage. As a registered charity, we are fortunate to have 100% of pledges raised by team members go directly to BALANCE; However,the registration fee must first be covered before we can start receiving pledges, and so we are asking businesses to help us by sponsoring one or more BALANCE team members.
Every $30 contribution your organization makes will enable a BALANCE team member to participate in the walk and help us in achieving our goal of 50 participants.
Any sponsorship funds in excess of the total registration fees will go directly to supporting BALANCE’s new innovative Healthy Living Program.
If desired the sponsoring organization’s name and/or logo may be prominently displayed on a dedicated section of the BALANCE For Blind Adults website.
For additional information please feel free to contact:
Doug PoirierProgram Coordinator
d.poirier@balancefba.org
Tel: (416) 236-1796