Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired – Charleston announces new officers
July 24, 2017
CHARLESTON, SC – Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired – Charleston (ABVI) recently elected new officers for Board of Directors the 2017-2018 fiscal year. The board members will hold the following positions until June 30, 2018.
- Julius J. Anderson, Jr. – President
- Clay W. Hershey – Vice President
- Fleetwood S. Hassell – Secretary
- Robert M. Baldwin – Treasurer
Capers Grimball served as Board President for the 2016-2017 Fiscal Year and has been a member of the board since 2012.
“From winning the South Carolina Award for Nonprofit Excellence to serving thousands of children and hundreds of adults through our programming, I am impressed with all that the ABVI staff and board has accomplished this year,” said Capers Grimball, former ABVI Board President. “It has been an honor to serve on the board over the last 7 years, and I look forward to seeing continued momentum from ABVI in the coming years.”
In addition, J. Douglas Hazelton, who served as Board President from 2013-2014, has rejoined as a member of the Board of Directors. Doug is a retired businessman and a former USAF pilot. He and his wife Joni moved to Charleston in 2007 and he became involved with ABVI shortly after that. In addition to his work with ABVI, Doug serves on the Revolving Loan Fund Committee of the Historic Charleston Foundation and is a member of the Advisory Board of the School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs at the College of Charleston.
ABVI’s mission is to empower individuals with blindness and visual impairment to lead safe, dignified, independent and rewarding lives and to prevent vision loss for adults in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester Counties and children in Charleston County Title I schools. Founded in 1936, we have been serving the Tri-County area for over 80 years. We have three main programs supporting our mission: Focus on Adults, Focus on Children and Own Your Life. Focus on Adults and Focus on Children are preventative programs aimed at catching vision impairment in the early stages and restoring vision when possible. Own Your Life is geared towards helping our blind and visually impaired clients attain independence in their personal and professional lives. In addition, we provide guide dog scholarships for our clients as well as opportunities for social engagement.
