The North Carolina VIP Fishing T

percent of the participant’s cost share.

Fund-raisers, such as the adopt-a-fisherman program, contributions and smaller projects cover expenses of the annual event that can exceed $150,000.

VIP participants arrive on the Outer Banks on a Monday, are housed in local hotels, have six meals, go fishing on two head boats and four ocean fishing piers for a day of recreation, participate in seminars and independent living training, and visit with vendors.

The closing awards banquet on Wednesday offers motivation and awards. More than 150 volunteers follow the same schedule as they assist the VIPs throughout the annual event.

The project has grown from a local tournament serving 12 blind children to the 550 participants of today.

The non-profit board governing this event includes members representing Lions clubs from two counties (Columbia, Currituck, First Flight, Lower Currituck, Manteo, Nags Head, Plymouth and Wanchese), a representative appointed by the district governor of District 31-J, a North Carolina Division of Services for the Blind representative, and Sid Scruggs, a North Carolina native and a vice president of Lions Clubs International. Scruggs serves as a liaison with Lions International.

This is the largest public/private partnership for the blind and visually impaired in the state according to John DeLuca, a former director of the North Carolina Services for the Blind.

The North Carolina Lions VIP Fishing Tournament is a non-profit organization celebrating its 26th anniversary in 2008.

The project brings in 525 participants from across North Carolina for three days of recreation, fellowship, and independent living workshops designed to help visually impaired persons (VIPs). It is the largest gathering of visually impaired in North Carolina and is believed to be the largest event of its kind in North America.

Services to the VIPs include education and an extension of the rehabilitation programs provided by the North Carolina Services for the Blind. Through educational and recreational activities, the VIPs are provided opportunities to eliminate negative attitudes often associated with blindness and to accommodate their need to enter mainstream America.

Research and development may eventually find a cure for blindness, but there are currently more than 20,000 visually impaired people in the Tar Heel state.

The VIP program touches the lives of a small percentage of those persons who are attempting to conform to a world of the sighted.

Tournament officials recognize the need to build support and a financial base for the project. In-kind services secured locally and statewide help offset the annual costs. The North Carolina Lions Foundation annually supports the project, last year providing $15,000. The NCLF has agreed to match this grant with 25

The North Carolina VIP Fishing Tournament, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization defined in section 501 (c) (3) of the IRS code. The board is comprised of elected representatives from the Columbia, Currituck, First Flight, Lower Currituck, Manteo, Nags Head, Plymouth and Wanchese Lions clubs in District 31-J, a part of the International Association of Lions Clubs.