About the Little Rock Foundation, the coordinator of Blindness Awareness Month:
The Little Rock Foundation was formed in 1997 and named
for Rocco Fiorentino, who was then 1 year old. Rocco was
born four months premature and weighed 1lbs. His twin
brother died at birth. Rocco had a 3% chance of
survival. He left the hospital six months later. Due of
the high level of oxygen needed to keep him alive in the
incubator, he had one remaining challenge, he became
totally blind. Little Rocco, now in his teens, is an ambassador
for The Little Rock Foundation and has championed the
cause of blindness and is now an award-winning
humanitarian.
Rocco
has been recognized by many organizations and recently
received the Helen Keller Award for Independence from
Visual Impairment & Blindness Services in Northampton
County, PA, and he was named a Huggable Hero from
Build-A-Bear Workshop. Because of speeches Rocco has
given to New Jersey State legislature, $1.2 million
dollars has been dedicated to Braille Education in the
State of New Jersey and he also saved the jobs for 54
staff members, after predicted budget cut of $611,000,
at the NJ Commission for the Blind and Visually
Impaired.
Since the tender age of 5, Rocco has spoken on many occasions to state legislators about the importance of Braille education in the school districts and continues to lobby for more services. Each year he travels to different schools throughout the state of New Jersey and Pennsylvania educating children and adults about the challenges blind and visually impaired people face daily. It is through his vision that "Blindness Awareness Month" (BAM) came to fruition. He contacted our state Assemblyman Louis Greenwald and Assemblywomen, Pam Lampitt to ask for their help to recognize October as "Blindness Awareness Month." That dream became a reality in December of 2008, when Governor Corzine signed a bill into law declaring every October to be "Blindness Awareness Month" in the States of New Jersey. Since that time we have also added over 35 additional states. (See map below for details)
Link to Resolution and
Link to Press Release
These Are Some Of Our Organizations Participating in BAM:
Academy of Natural Sciences ACB of Maine ACB of Indiana ACB of Minnesota American Academy of Ophthalmology American Foundation for the Blind American Printing House for the Blind Arizona Council of
the Blind Liberty Resources - Academy |
Lions Club of Avalon Lions Club of Cherry Hill Little Rock Foundation Lyric Fest MidAtlantic Blind Golfers Association Moore Eye Institute National Braille Press National Liberty Museum National Parents of Visually Impaired NJ Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired NJ Foundation for the Blind NJ Library Talking Book and Braille Center North Dakota Association for the Blind Oklahoma Council of the Blind Overbrook School for the Blind Pennsylvania Association for the Blind Pennsylvania Council of the Blind Perkins School for the Blind Please Touch Museum Salus University Scheie Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania Seedlings Braille Books for Children St. Joseph's School for the Blind, Concordia Learning Ctr SW Unlimited LLC The NJ Academy of Ophthalmologist The Seeing Eye The Woolford Group, LLC Viabl Services Washington Council of the Blind Mountain State Council of the Blind Wills Eye Institute YMCA Camp Medford, NJ |
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