11/21/2017

Photo of Kirk Adams Kirk Adams is president and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind.

Every Thanksgiving, I like to take inventory of everything I have to be grateful for. This year, my list is longer than ever.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to meet with so many people around the country this year who are working hard to create a better world. People like Caitlin, a blind elementary school teacher in San Francisco. James, a software engineer in Phoenix, who recently became blind and is working hard to learn blindness skills in order to return to work. And Kristin, the mother of two blind teenage boys in Philadelphia, who is passionately advocating to create a world of no limits for all young blind people.

I’m grateful to AFB’s volunteers and supporters, our partners and all of the agencies and organizations working toward the same goal.

I’m thankful for the technology that’s changing the world—from the apps that help me get around new towns and keep track of my day, to the experience of using Aira to navigate an airport.

I am so grateful to my family, and my wonderful wife, who have been incredibly supportive of this new adventure.

I’m thankful for good meals and good friends, and their good advice, freely given.

Thank you to all of the kids who are dreaming big, and continuing to inspire AFB every day.

I know I speak for everyone at AFB when I say we are all so thankful to champion this important cause, and to have the opportunity to advocate every day for people who are blind to live with no limits.