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<p>100 years.</p><p>A century.</p><p>It&#8217;s a pretty long time to be doing anything.</p><p>When an organization spends that amount of time helping those in need in the community, it&#8217;s remarkable &#8212; even cause for a celebration.</p><p>Northeast Sight Services has been serving the region&#8217;s visually impaired for 100 years now.</p><p>Sara Gorgone Peperno, the organization&#8217;s president and CEO, told us last month in an op-ed that Arline Phillips created the group on Nov. 8, 1918.</p><p>According to Gorgone Peperno, Phillips, a young blind woman, gathered a group of concerned citizens together to form the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind a century ago today.</p><p>The group&#8217;s mission at the time was simple enough &#8211; &#8220;helping blind persons help themselves.&#8221;</p><p>Earlier this year as part of its centennial celebration, the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind changed its name to Northeast Sight Services to better reflect its growing service area and services.</p><p>But its basic mission remains the same &#8211; &#8220;playing an integral role in helping individuals adjust to vision loss and live an entirely independent life in their homes, work, and community,&#8221; Gorgone Peperno wrote.</p><p>To fulfill this noble mission, Northeast Sight Services offers a variety of programs, including in-home support and social events to name a few.</p><p>The group&#8217;s Marilyn Moore Maslow Vision Resource Center makes sure &#8220;individuals in our local communities have access to sight, whether it be through a high powered magnifier from the Vision Resource Center or a basic pair of affordable prescription frames,&#8221; according to the organization&#8217;s website.</p><p>Its free vision screenings are a boon to the community, especially the ones offered to the area&#8217;s youngest members. Remember, without a screening some parents of children with vision problems may never realize there is an issue.</p><p>And its InSight Kids Club of NEPA, in partnership with Community Services for Sight, is a wonderful program that ensures blind and visually impaired children get to enjoy both recreational and instructional opportunities as a group.</p><p>Northeast Sight Services has been celebrating its centennial all year long, and tonight it will hold its annual awards dinner at The Woodlands Inn.</p><p>If you aren&#8217;t headed to tonight&#8217;s event, you may want to consider supporting the agency with a gift to its Centennial Challenge.</p><p>Northeast Sight Services is hoping to raise $200,000 so it can be around for another 100 years to serve the visually impaired.</p><p>We here at the Times Leader hope the organization is around for that long and even longer.</p><p>Congratulations to Northeast Sight Services on its anniversary and many thanks for all the good work done by the people there.</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em> &#8212; Times Leader</em></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Northeast Sight Services President/CEO Sara Gorgone Peperno offers remarks during a ceremony signifying the organization&#8217;s name change from the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind in Exeter earlier this year. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL011918Ribbon-Cutting_3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Northeast Sight Services President/CEO Sara Gorgone Peperno offers remarks during a ceremony signifying the organization&#8217;s name change from the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind in Exeter earlier this year. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>To donate</strong></p><p>Go to www.northeastsightservices.com or mail a check made payable to Northeast Sight Services to 1825 Wyoming Ave., Exeter, PA 18643</p></factboxMeta></div>

Our View: Kudos to a century of excellence by Northeast Sight Services