Sights for Hope Honors former Lions District Governor with Volunteer Award
Sights for Hope honored David León, past Governor of Pennsylvania Lions District 14-U, with one of its highest volunteer honors during the organization’s annual team appreciation luncheon.
Held in advance of the National Volunteer Week event led by the Points of Light Foundation, the luncheon also included awards for volunteers and employees who achieved service milestones. Sights for Hope has approximately 55 active volunteers. Volunteers assist with programs and services, support administrative and fundraising functions, and serve on Sights for Hope’s Board of Directors or the board of its affiliated endowment foundation.
León was the 2024 recipient of Sights for Hope’s Annie Sullivan Volunteer Spirit Award – which reflects a commitment to helping others in Annie Sullivan’s spirit of teaching and friendship to Helen Keller. The award recognized León’s work in conducting vision screenings for children in Monroe County and his mentorship of the Monroe Sights for Hope Lions Club – a branch of the Stroudsburg Lions Club formed in 2022 almost entirely of Sights for Hope clients. Lions District 14-U includes all Lions organizations in Monroe County.
Volunteers who received service tenure awards were Paul Bartolucci, husband of Sights for Hope Client Activities Manager Rita Lang, who was honored for 10 years; Terry Leh, who was honored for five years; and Sights for Hope board member H. Ross Ramaley, Esq., who was honored for five years. Staff members who received five-year service tenure awards were Yvette Quintero, Sights for Hope’s Lead Client Caseworker, and Carol Weisberg, an assistant for its summer Camp I CAN! Program and other youth programs.
Sights for Hope transforms the lives of people with visual impairments and blindness by removing the barriers to their independence. Sights for Hope’s services teach adaptive skills to accomplish daily life activities; provide supports that counter the effects of visual impairments and blindness; increase access to medical care, healthy food, and other essentials; and advance solutions that enhance sight capabilities. More than 40% of Sights for Hope’s clients live below or near the federal poverty line. Founded in 1928, Sights for Hope carries forward in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Monroe County a tradition of service inspired by Helen Keller and is a member of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind.
Image: David León speaking to a crowd with a hand-held microphone.