I approached the D&C’s outdoor writer, Leo Roth, a while ago about potentially doing a piece on Kasey Hopper, an Orientation & Mobility expert at ABVI.  Kasey is legally blind and is an amazing athlete. He and his wife tandem bike ride and have been doing some amazing rides for some time.  This weekend they will ride the Tour de Cure.  Here’s an excerpt from Leo’s column which ran this past Sunday, June 5th.  For the complete story, visit: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110605/SPORTS0103/106050356/Couple-tackles-life-tandem

As a kid, Kasey Hopper cherished riding a bike. He’d jump curbs, fly off plywood ramps and savor the feeling of freedom on two wheels.

“Jumping as high as you could, I remember that feeling as a kid,” Hopper said.

A feeling that was stolen away when Hopper was 19.

Diagnosed as a young boy with retinitis pigmentosa, an incurable, degenerative eye disease, Hopper’s vision had been declining for years.

Here’s a blog post I wrote for ABVI after interviewing a phenomenal woman, Kirstyn Smith.

Kirstyn Smith is just like a lot of very busy moms. She’s a city resident, the mother of two active boys, runs the parents’ association for their Catholic school, loves yoga, kickboxing and swimming and is a voracious reader who participates in a number of book clubs. Kirstyn is also blind. Here’s her story.

For that story, read it here:  http://www.seegreatthings.com/News/tabid/100/ArticleID/39/Default.aspx

The Goodwill store manager in Victor, Loren Romagnola, is featured in last week’s Victor and East Rochester Post papers.  To see the feature, click here:  http://www.fairport-erpost.com/yournews/x1043376563/Spotlight-on-Loren-Romagnola.  Here’s some of what he had to say:

Today’s Democrat and Chronicle featured a great article on the front of the Local section by Michael Zeigler (with photos by Tina Yee).  The article talked about now being an ideal time to donate your no-longer-wanted-stuff to Goodwill.  YNN also ran stories yesterday with Wendy Mills on the value of donating.

So…do it now!  Donations are tax deductible.  Get them in this year and the tax write-off can be a little gift for yourself.  Plus, by donating, you get the great feeling of giving your things away and knowing they will be valued by someone else.  Goodwill calls this “upcycling.”
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ABVI-Goodwill Needs Your Clothing and Household Items
- Each Donation is Tax Deductible-

Rochester, NY (December 21, 2010) — The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI)-Goodwill Industries of Greater Rochester, Inc. reminds the community to donate gently used clothing and household items this holiday season.  Donations become an essential part of the inventory for the nine area Goodwill stores.  In addition, Goodwill provides donation receipts for tax purposes as each donation is tax deductible.   Over the past year alone, more than four million pounds have been diverted from the landfill and upcycled into saleable inventory at Goodwill.

“Often during the holidays, we think about how to help those who are less fortunate than us,” said Sondra McFarlane, Vice President of Marketing for ABVI-Goodwill.  “For many of us who are cash-strapped during the holidays, there is a way to help that doesn’t cost anything. By donating clothing, electronics and other household items, everyone can make a difference.  Plus, many of our stores have covered drive-through donation drop off areas which really makes it easy and convenient to donate.”
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Entercom Radio is shining a spotlight on the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI)-Goodwill this Sunday on all of its stations on its community affairs programming.  It’s not too late hear it.   Check out Terry Clifford’s community affairs show, “The City” tonight on WBEE 92.5 at 10 pm (maybe 10:30 pm).   Todd Pipitone, ABVI-Goodwill’s PR manager gives an overview of the organization, the importance of donating, the great deals to be had on new and used items at at each of the nine area Goodwill stores (go to GoodwillROCS.com for all sorts of information on the Goodwill stores).  Shye Louis, 2-1-1 LIFELINE Call Center manager expounds on the services the Call Center offers and the types of calls they see during the holidays.  2-1-1 LIFELINE is definitely the place to go when you don’t know where to go.  They are always there to help, 24-7.  (2-1-1 LIFELINE is part of ABVI-Goodwill.)

Katrina Irwin at WROC TV 8/FOX News ran a “Go Green” segment featuring “Green Holiday Giving” at Goodwill.  Her piece noted:  “ABVI-Goodwill has come up with a term that best describes some of their inventory: ‘upcycled.’”  The piece goes on to include tidbits like the following:  “‘It’s not recycled anymore because it’s good; someone else can use it and benefit from it,’ says Roxanne Garrison.  She is in retail administration for ABVI-Goodwill.  People bring their unwanted items to drop off points around the area. The items are then sorted and sold in the 9 retail stores in the Greater Rochester area.”  For the complete story, including video, check out this link: http://www.greenrightnow.com/rochesterhomepage/2010/12/16/green-giving-for-the-holidays/