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Community Corner

Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Eli Manning Gather for Spring Tee-Off

Eli Manning and Guiding Eyes for the Blind returned to White Plains for the Spring Tee-Off for their 34th annual Guiding Eyes Golf Classic.

For at least one night, the drama of the NFL lockout was not at the forefront of Eli Manning's mind.

welcomed back the New York Giants Pro Bowl quarterback to White Plains Monday at Mulino's of Westchester for the sponsor recognition dinner, held before the 34th annual Guiding Eyes Golf Classic tees off in a few weeks.

"It's exciting every year for me to be here to see how Guiding Eyes is growing and to hear updates on the new facilities," said Manning, who will be appearing at the outing for the fifth consecutive year. "These puppies are in the best facilities in the country, if not the world."

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Guiding Eyes for the Blind is a nonprofit guide dog school which provides assistance to the blind and visually impaired. The foundation is headquartered in Yorktown Heights, NY and can be reached at (914) 245-4024.

The cost of properly training a guide dog team costs $45,000. Being nonprofit, —relies on donations and support from its sponsors. The golf outing is main source of its income, as they expect to raise more than $500,000.

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The Golf Classic will be held on Sun.June 12 at Mount Kisco Country Club and will feature fourteen of the top blind golfers from around the country competing for the Corcoran Cup. The community will join in on the action on Mon., June 13. A field of golfers hosted by Gatorade and Entergy Nuclear Northeast, top sponsors of the event, will compete at both Mount Kisco Country Club and Whippoorwill Club in Armonk.  The spectators are welcome at the Golf Classic, which will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a shotgun start.

Manning began hosting the event in 2006 after taking over for professional golfer Ken Venturi, who founded the event. Manning's interest in the foundation came from Patrick Browne, Jr., a Manning family friend and a 20-time winner of the Corcoran Cup.

Although Monday night's conversation occasionally shifted to football—Manning and the evening's focus centered around the continued expansion of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, including an $8 million dollar project planned by the foundation's president and CEO, Bill Badger.

The first stage of the project, the construction of new whelping kennels, has already been completed—according to Badger. The golf outing will help in raising the necessary funds to complete the next two phases of the project by 2013. The event, which has raised over $7 million since its inception in 1977, has been sold out since January thanks to Manning's presence. The plan is to build the facilities into the terrain of the countryside where the canine development center sits.

"The purpose of this is to provide a superior learning and growth experience for our puppies—in that they can also develop on the outside, as well as on the inside of the facilities," said Badger. "The result is going to be that we will have a program that is unique among guide dog schools in the world. And that will provide Guiding Eyes for the Blind, quite modestly, with the healthiest and smartest dogs anywhere and anyplace."

Despite his presence, Manning may not have been the most sought after guest in the house. That distinction belonged to the foundation's puppies, who were mobbed almost as much as the guest of honor. Manning also praised Guiding Eyes' autism program.

"28 dogs are in that program—100 percent success rate so far," said Manning. "So obviously a lot of great work's being done, and that's always good to hear."

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