Photo:  Tom Sullivan and his Leader Dog on stage at the Lansing Center April 23.

On April 23, about 120 people, including blind and visually impaired students from mid-Michigan, attended a free performance by Tom Sullivan at the Lansing Center, a special event marking Blindness Prevention and Services Month in Michigan.  Tom Sullivan, an actor, singer, entertainer, author and producer, also happens to be blind.  During his performance, he talked about his life experiences, sang, played piano, and showed excerpts of a movie based on his life.  His Leader Dog was trained at Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, Michigan, which has trained more than 13,000 person/dog teams now located all over the world.

Sullivan's performance was co-sponsored by the Michigan Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons (MSEPS), Leader Dogs for the Blind, the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, and the Michigan Commission for the Blind.  Before the performance, visitors had the opportunity to stop by information tables of the sponsor organizations.

Later that week, MCB received a letter from a special education teacher for the visually impaired who said, "I brought a student to see Tom Sullivan . . . Thanks for letting me know about this. . . I think seeing Tom Sullivan had a positive influence on [my student].  It was very important for me to bring [him] there."