Celebrate Helen Keller's birthday by doing good

"It all comes to this: the simplest way to be happy is to do good." ~ Helen Keller

On June 27, 2008, Helen Keller would have celebrated her 128th birthday. As we remember this great woman, Perkins encourages you to volunteer and carry on Keller's lifelong mission to help others.

Overcoming adversity and finding her voice

Helen Keller's life story is one of overcoming obstacles and helping others to do the same. As an infant Helen lost both her sight and her hearing to an illness. 
 
Many people at the time believed deafblind children were unreachable but Helen's parents had heard about a place where people thought differently. They contacted Perkins and the school's director sent teacher Anne Sullivan to Helen's hometown in Alabama. The rest is well documented history.

In her lifetime, Keller broke through every barrier others placed on the visually and hearing impaired. She was the first deafblind person to earn a bachelors of arts graduating cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1904. In 1956 Keller officiated at the dedication of Perkins' Keller-Sullivan building when it became home of the school’s Deafblind Program.

Keller had a vision that went far beyond what others saw with their eyes. She traveled the world as a respected writer and public speaker advocating for economic justice, women's rights, and the rights of people with disabilities.
 
From a confused and angry child to a confident, independent and inspirational leader, Keller's transformation exudes hope. She never let impairments limit her life experience and by example she lived the Perkins slogan: "All we see is possibility."

How you can honor Helen Keller's legacy

Regardless of your background or area of interest, we are always looking for compassionate and capable individuals to join the Perkins family as volunteers. 

Volunteers can serve as classroom aides to students, provide community-based help to seniors, record talking books for Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library, and much more. To learn about Perkins' volunteer opportunities click here or contact us at 617-972-7224 or volunteers@perkins.org.  

You can also remember Keller by volunteering through local chapters of Lions Clubs International. Since Helen Keller spoke at the Lions' 1925 International Convention, Lions have made service to the blind and visually impaired a key part of their mission.  

There are countless ways to better your community. We invite you to remember what Helen Keller accomplished and challenge yourself to change the world.

"The advancement of society always has its commencement in the individual soul." ~ Anne Sullivan