MIB Wellness Team Participates in National Walking Day

After attending the WebMD sponsored event, “Motivating Mississippi—Keys to Living Healthy,” at JSU in early March, Mississippi Industries for the Blind has increased its efforts at promoting healthy living around the facility.   Firstly, MIB has formed a Wellness Team that convenes to discuss the possible activities, programs, and resources to make available for employees at MIB.  The Wellness Team has already made efforts to raise awareness by setting out healthy snacks and posting the MS State Health & Wellness plans for various age groups around the facility.  They have also met with the WebMD Wellness Coordinator, Murray Harber, to discuss attainable health and fitness goals at MIB.

“Be a Cutie.  Eat good foodie.”  
Setting out healthy snacks in the break areas instead of sweets is just one way MIB is moving toward healthy habits at work.


Since the MIB Wellness Team is determined to continue forward with its health conscious efforts, today they celebrated the American Heart Association’s National Walking Day by organizing an internal walking event for all MIB employees.  Although the weather today in Jackson was all but nice, there were fourteen employees who chose to walk for one or two ten-minute time slots during the lunch break.  In the first group, the 11:45-11:55, there were 10 walkers; and for the 12-12:10 group, we had 7 walkers!  Although these are merely preliminary measures to help employees at MIB become more aware of their eating and exercising habits and how those factors can impact one’s eye-health, it has been–literally–a step in the right direction.
Ada, Connie, Elena, and Susie on National Walking Day!
Elena, Connie, and Ada make their way to the back of the plant, 
where they reach the half-way mark of the indoor walking route.

3 people walked close to1 mile, while most others walked nearly half a mile or more.  
What a great pre-lunch work-out!

Stories Like His

Dear Readers,


Did you know that Mississippi has the highest incidence of blindness per capita in the nation?  And that over 70% of people with severe visual impairments are not employed?  Thus, given these two statistics, Mississippi has the highest number of unemployed, blind individuals per capita in the country.

But the story below is one of hope and gratitude:

Greg Sylvest of Meridian, MS, first came to Mississippi Industries for the Blind at age 35, having been diagnosed with Glaucoma, “the second most common cause of blindness in the United States.”  Because of this disease, Greg began to lose his peripheral sight, causing what is commonly known as tunnel vision.  Upon finding out about this irreparable loss of sight, Greg was “shocked.”

“I couldn’t tell that’s what I had, but by the time I had it checked out, it was inoperable,” he told me during our interview.

Although Greg began to lose his vision, he did not lose his ability to work.  When asked what it was like to come to Mississippi Industries for the Blind as a new employee, he replied, “It was very good, very comforting to know I still had a place to work.  I knew I could come here and be encouraged by others who were also visually impaired.  We all work very well together.”

So, for the past fourteen years, Greg has worked as a welder for MIB Meridian, creating products from tow bars to ferrules to fish cookers to fence post pullers.  He was also awarded Employee of the Year in 2011, to which he says, “It was nice to know that I was meeting standards.” (Or rather, exceeding them).

Because of the employment opportunities created for him by Mississippi Industries for the Blind, and his own willingness to overcome his perceptual limitations, Greg can work and provide for himself.

I enjoy doing interviews like this and the one with Ms. Sandra Williams (see previous post) because it gives you, the reader, a context for the work we do as a foundation.  Greg’s and Sandra’s stories are only two out of hundreds like them.  There are still plenty of Mississippians with visual impairments that would love nothing more than a task at hand and financial self-reliance.  The foundation thus takes in donations to help purchase equipment and develop programs to then hire visually impaired individuals from around the state.

While we cannot change blindness, we can change what happens in the lives of those with visual impairments.  And it all starts with your help.

Meet MIB’s 2013 Employee of the Year, Sandra Williams.

When considering a nominee for the Employee of the Year Award, Mississippi Industries for the Blind’s CEO Mike Chew says, “We look for a model employee, one with a positive attitude, good teamwork, a strong work ethic, and someone who will do whatever is needed to do to get the job done.”  

And that person for 2013 is Sandra Williams.

Sandra Williams began work as a shift manager for Taco Bell in her hometown of Jackson, MS; however, when only 26 years old, Sandra began to lose her sight from irreparable optic nerve damage caused by tumors.  Because of this, she was not able to keep her job.


After attending sessions at Mississippi’s rehabilitation center for the blind and visually impaired, Addie McBryde, Sandra was introduced to possible job opportunities with Mississippi Industries for the Blind.  Finally, in September of 1990, Sandra came to MIB as a full-time employee.  She has been with the company ever since, sewing anything from sweatshirts, to flags, to one of MIB’s current products–barracks bags for the U.S. military.

When asked what her employment with Mississippi Industries for the Blind has meant to her she said, “Before I lost my sight, I hadn’t heard of Mississippi Industries for the Blind.  I thought I’d just be sitting at home.  But then I heard about MIB, and I knew I had a place to go.  I can go to work, and that has been very important to me.  They also supply me with the equipment I need to get my job done, and through MIB I also have easy access to other low vision products.”

Sandra’a co-workers and friends all agree that she is well-deserving of the MIB Employee of the Year award.  Pat Jones, a co-worker of Sandra’s for the past ten years, described her as quiet but reliable.  “She’s here every day–rain, sleet, or snow.  Something’s really got to be wrong for her not to be here.”  Sandra’s dependability is also noticed by administrative staff, especially CEO Mike Chew.  “Sandra is always diligently working,” says Mike.  “She does it right, is always positive, has a can-do attitude and happy demeanor, and sets the tone for the rest of the [barracks bags] department.  She’s the kind of person we look to reward.”

No matter who you ask, it’s clear that Sandra is a well-rounded individual with whom Mississippi Industries for the Blind is very proud to call their 2013 Employee of the Year!

Congrats, Sandra!