White Cane Safety Day, also known as Blind Americans Equality Day, is an annual, national observance that recognizes the achievements of blind Americans and the importance of the white cane as the basic tool of mobility and symbol of independence for the blind. It is also a day to remind all citizens of the laws granting the right of way to blind cane travelers. In 1964, the United States Congress authorized the President of the United States to proclaim October 15 of each year as "White Cane Safety Day". In fact, White Cane Safety Day is now celebrated around the world in many countries on the same date.

White Cane Safety Day 2016 falls on a Saturday this year. The Iowa Department for the Blind (IDB) encourages all blind and low vision Iowans and their supporters to join in this fun and meaningful celebration of White Cane Safety Day 2016 by holding local events and by seeking proclamations of the date from local governments. Linked below are template files for requesting proclamations from municipal and county governments. You may wish to contact local media outlets (newspapers, radio, or television) to encourage media coverage of your proclamation signing or community event. Some links follow the templates that provide background information about this significant observance.

Proclamation templates:

White Cane Safety Day 2016 Proclamation-Municipal template [1]

White Cane Safety Day 2016 Proclamation-County template [2]

Contact your local government City Hall to see if they have requirements for requesting proclamations.

Links to information about White Cane Safety Day/Blind Americans Equality Day

https://nfb.org/white-cane-safety-day [3]

http://members.lionsclubs.org/EN/events/white-cane-safety-day.php [4]

http://www.visionaware.org/blog/visionaware-blog/celebrating-white-cane-safety-day-and-blind-americans-equality-day-october-15-2014/12 [5]

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/10/14/presidential-proclamation-blind-americans-equality-day-2015 [6]

In Des Moines, students from IDB’s Orientation Center will gather in the Governor’s Formal Office at the State of Iowa Capitol Building on Thursday, October 13 at 10:30 am for Governor Branstad’s signing of the State’s proclamation of White Cane Safety Day 2016 [7]. The public is invited to join the Center students for the signing. You will want to arrive in plenty of time to clear the security gates.

Please let us know if you secure a proclamation of White Cane Safety Day 2016 in your area. We will list them on our web site along with links to any media coverage. For more information about this event or the Iowa Department for the Blind, contact Rick Dressler, (515) 281-1314, rick.dressler@blind.state.ia.us [8].