Dear Guiding Eyes for the Blind:
My name is Kerry Corboy, and I am a physician from California. My grandmother (Flora Mann) was blind though I never knew her as she died when I was a toddler. ย I have a few friends who are blind or visually impaired and I am disabled myself due to a tenacious musculoskeletal cancer resulting in a short lifetime of 30 major surgeries and the amputation of my leg at the age of eleven. ย For these reasons, I have donated to your organization for the last few years in memory of my grandmother and friends with visual challenges.
About a month ago, I asked my mom where her mother, Flora, received her guide dog training and dog. She was unable to recall, but low and behold, came upon a photo which was packed away in storage. ย It depicts my grandmother and other guide dog trainees with their dogs at a school in Yorktown Heights, NY, taken in 1959 or 1960. ย I believe this was the first branch of Guiding Eyes for the Blind. ย I know it made a very big impact on and improvement in her life during her later years. She was the first blind woman to graduate from Cal State LA. ย I have attached the photo to this email (Flora Mann is second from the left).
I am writing to thank all of you for what you do to improve the lives of people with visual impairments. ย I am so very happy and amazed that the organization I chose to donate to is the very one my grandmother received her training and guide dog from. ย Please continue to do what you do everyday!
Sincerely,
Kerry J. Corboy, M.D.
