The Sight & Hearing Association is entering its sixty-third year of service to our community. While many things have changed over the years, our mission has remained steadfast: to prevent vision and hearing loss in all Minnesotans. Sometimes, we are fortunate enough to hear about the results of our work. Often times, we won't know results for years, if at all. It is stories like the ones featured in this annual report that push us to work even harder. There are many untold stories like Tierney Kilgariff's tale of amblyopia. More over, it's not often we get to write about a person whose generosity will help us continue to serve our community for years [see the donor profile]. Whether you're a parent of a preschooler who we've screened or a donor who chooses to give to us, we say thank you. We wouldn't be here without you.

Sincerely,
Karen M. Arnold, President

Amblyopia is a vision disorder where one eye, which appears healthy, fails to develop normal vision. In Tierney's case, her brain was receiving two different images - one from her "good" eye and one from her "weak" eye. The brain suppresses the image from the weak eye, which eventually causes the eye not to work.

Unless the eye looks "lazy," a vision test is the only way to catch amblyopia. And the earlier it's caught, preferably before age 6, the better the chance of treating it. Tierney's mother, Cathleen Cotter, had no idea her daughter couldn't see.

"It's not like she was walking into walls or anything," Cathleen said half-jokingly, "and we hadn't started letters yet, so it wasn't a problem with reading."

A year later, Tierney now wears glasses full-time and a patch for six hours every day. The patch is worn over her good eye, which forces her weaker eye to work.

While it's too early to predict whether Tierney will need to wear glasses for life, according to Cathleen, her doctor says she may outgrow them by the time she is 9 or 10.

"The fact that we caught it early is positive," she said.

Another positive outcome of the screening is that Tierney's cousin was helped too. Cathleen's brother has three children who hadn't had their vision tested. After hearing Tierney's story, he took the kids into the doctor to get tested. Sure enough, six-year-old Abbie was found to have amblyopia. Because she's a few years older than Tierney, her treatment is even more aggressive - she wears glasses and a patch eight hours a day.

Back at Miniapple Montessori School, the site where Sight & Hearing Association screened Tierney, they've decorated a little box for her to put her glasses in when she's climbing on the slide.

"Tierney's very matter-of-fact about wearing glasses," her mom said. To Tierney, it may just be another part of being 3, but to her parents, it means being grateful she can see.

During the 2000-01 screening year, the Sight & Hearing Association screened more than 7,000 preschool children like Tierney in the 11-county metro area for vision and hearing. Of those, 489 (7 percent) were referred for vision concerns and 947 (13 percent) for hearing concerns. Overall, more than one-half of the children SHA screens come from economically disadvantaged homes.

To help those children who are referred for vision problems but can't afford glasses, SHA introduced the Vision Voucher Project for Kids in 2001. More than 450 children received vouchers for a free eye exam and glasses last year.

The spring of 2001 saw another new endeavor: screening for Minneapolis Public Schools. Because of severe budget cuts within Minnesota's largest school district, SHA stepped in to help the Minneapolis Public Schools complete vision and hearing screenings for first-, third and fifth-graders.

SHA also partnered with other organizations - such as the Phillips Eye Institute, the Minnesota Academy of Ophthalmology and Vision Loss Resources - to offer screenings for at-risk adults.

In an effort to help parents track their child's ear infections, the Sight & Hearing Association introduced the Ear Infection Tracking Card. Ear infections are becoming as common as the common cold for children under 3. If left untreated, they can lead to more serious problems, such as a hearing loss and /or language delays. This handy tool - the size of a driver's license - has six fold-out areas for the parent to write information about the doctor's visit.

Another new product SHA developed during 2001 is the Amsler Grid Magnet. The Amsler Grid is a simple at-home screening tool to check for age-related macular degeneration, an eye disease that affects the macula. Previously a paper product, the magnetic Amsler Grid is perfect to stick on the refrigerator as a daily reminder to check for changes in vision.

In addition to products, SHA once again was in the forefront of spreading our message via research-related awareness campaigns. For example, our research into noisy toys and resulting media coverage helped educate parents on the dangers of loud toys. Last year, approximately one million people heard messages regarding the dangers of noisy toys, the importance of protecting their hearing from noise, fireworks eye safety, glaucoma prevention and vehicle battery safety. In August, MPLS.ST.PAUL magazine, the region's leading lifestyle magazine, partnered with SHA for the fourth year to produce a special section on sight and hearing issues. In addition, our Web site at www.sightandhearing.org continues to generate requests for information from people across the world.

• Already in 2002, we have expanded our existing screening sites to double the number of children screened.
• We are continuing to work with Minneapolis Public Schools to help screen elementary-school children.
• We will begin screening at various charter schools in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.
• Through partnerships with Minnesota audiologists, we are growing the number of hearing screening sites offered statewide on International Noise Awareness Day in April.
• In addition, we will continue to increase the number of screening locations for senior citizens and other at-risk populations.

Elmer Peterson (known to friends simply as Pete) carried a two-inch stack of recipe cards recording his friends' personal data - their addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, anniversaries and even their kids' birthdays. This makeshift rolodex, which he carried everywhere he went, represents the number of lives he touched during his 77 years.

"Most of us have a lot of passing friends, but only a few close friends," said his long-time friend Dick Carpenter. "Pete, however, had many, many close friends. He was always doing things for other people."

It is fitting then, that after his death in 1998, that generous spirit lives on. Pete chose six charities to donate his estate to - one of them the Sight & Hearing Association. His financial gift is the largest one-time gift in the organization's history.

While Pete didn't have vision or hearing problems, he had an aunt who did. It seems appropriate, Carpenter says, that in the end, his friend was genuinely selfless - doing this not for himself but for his aunt.

"He really wanted his funds to go toward helping solve the problem," Carpenter explained. "He always looked at the bigger picture."

A family man
Pete was born on May 6, 1921, in Virginia, Minn. The only child of Valerie and Elmer Peterson Sr., Pete served more than three years during World War II as an Army staff sergeant. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1948 and began working in the family's fire extinguisher business. After his father's death, he took over the family business - growing it into a successful company.

Pete was well liked by his employees, according to Carpenter, and he maintained those friendships throughout his life.

In 1979, after caring for his mother until she died, he married Elma Austing Shoemaker - his girlfriend of 20 years. Four years later, he sold his company and retired, splitting his time between his homes in Arizona and northern Minnesota.

"Nothing made Pete happier than sitting on his deck at Gull Lake, having a classical music tape playing in the background, and visiting with one or more of his many friends who came to visit," reminisces Carpenter.

Pete made friends everywhere he went. He was a life member of several organizations, including the American Legion, the Zuhrah Shrine Temple and the Zuhrah Patrol - joining the Shrine clubs in each place he lived. That's where he met Carpenter in the early '50s.

"There is a whole group of Shriners who have stayed dear friends," Carpenter said. "Pete was more like a brother to me; he was just a beautiful person."

In his younger years, Pete also was a Big Brother. On his desk the day he died, there was an opened letter from his Little Brother.

"That Little Brother is now a doctor in California," explained Carpenter, "and he had written to tell Pete how much Pete meant to him. That was a perfect ending."