SEEING THE LIGHT

Helping visually impaired children reach for the stars

For the sixth consecutive year, Roots is the official outfitter of the Canadian delegation of blind and visually impaired students attending SciVis, a week-long camp at the US Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville, Alabama next month.

Coordinated by Vancouver-based Lyn Frankel, Roots Corporate Sponsorship and Sales Manager in Western Canada, Roots has supplied merchandise for the national blind and visually impaired group taking part in the space camp since 2000 after being first approached by a Roots customer, Lyn Schwartz, the program’s Canadian coordinator who lives in Kelowna, BC and works with the blind and visually impaired.

This year, the custom-made Roots collection consists of hoodies, T-shirts and baseball caps. Made in Canada, the hoodies and tees come in black with screen prints and gold embroidery. Coordinated by Mary Jane Saliba of the Business-To-Business Department, more than 150 units were shipped earlier this week to the west coast. (From 2000 until 2005, Roots Iron Man Ed Cox looked after the production.)

The camp is coordinated by teachers of the visually impaired and attracts 200 students each year from the United States, Canada and many other countries. It is equipped with computers adapted for speech and large print output. Materials and equipment used during space missions are available in Braille and large print. The camp’s guiding principle for participants is: “Just because I can't see the stars doesn't mean I can't reach for them.”