Fund-Raiser to Help Group Repair Vans

Visually Handicapped Adults of the Valley will conduct a “radiothon” fund-raiser on KIEV-AM (870) early Sunday morning.

The group hopes the event will raise $25,000 needed to repair its five vans and possibly purchase an additional one. The vans, used to transport 155 blind and visually impaired adults to the group’s center, are rundown and need various repairs, sidelining some of them for weeks, organizers said.

“The need for funds to keep the vans running is immediate,” said Helen Harris, the group’s chairwoman.

In addition, some of the funds will be used to train drivers to work with the blind.

The radiothon, which will air from midnight Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday, seemed a logical choice because Harris has her own radio show on KIEV every Tuesday night.

During the fund-raiser, programming will include taped interviews from visually handicapped clients and their teachers and volunteers from the center at 15520 Sherman Way.

The radiothon comes at a time when the group is scrambling for funds. Last year, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation decided the group was no longer eligible to receive funding that had paid for van maintenance.

“We’re still coping with the loss,” Harris said. “It hasn’t been easy.”

For 18 years, Visually Handicapped Adults of the Valley has provided blind and visually impaired adults in the Valley with classes and recreational activities. Students learn Braille, mobility activities to get around more efficiently and safely, and such recreational activities as ceramics, music, typing and bowling.

For more information about the radiothon, contact the group at (818) 992-0500. To make a pledge, call KIEV at (800) 540-5438 during the radiothon.