Walk arm-in-arm with vets to support Blind Rehab Center

The Arm-in-Arm Walk, benefiting the Southeastern Blind Rehabilitation Center (SBRC) Alumni Association, will return to Veterans Park on Sept. 29 for its second year.

The one-mile walk invites participants to walk arm-in-arm with a blind veteran who has been treated by the SBRC, Alumni Association secretary and treasurer Lynn Pistacchio said. The funds raised on the walk provides money for current patients to enjoy things like lunch or bowling while undergoing rehabilitation.

“Most of the time when they come, they’re not with their families,” Pistacchio said. It can be lonely to relearn life skills without sight and without familiar people around.

Pistacchio, whose husband was an SBRC patient, said everyone in the Alumni Association has “been in their shoes” and wants to help the next generation of patients.

The SBRC is a 28-bed center run by the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. It offers training in daily living activities, communication, computer access, mobility and visual skills, as well as medical, therapeutic and psychological services for blind veterans.

The Alumni Association also holds the Charlie Boswell Golf Classic in May, and Pistacchio said a feature of the tournament is that the golfers must complete one hole blindfolded.

The goal for the Arm-in-Arm Walk is to raise $5,000 to cater a holiday lunch and provide gifts and other necessities for SBRC patients. Registration is $25 and begins at 8:30 a.m., with the walk through Veterans Park beginning at 9:30.