Intersection

Downtowner Joey Vanas raises awareness and funds by spending a month with his eyes covered

Image
At press time, MINUS-EYES had raised $4,444.

Imagine enjoying life’s visual beauties for four decades, then losing your sight in an instant. Local philanthropist and Downtown ally Joey Vanas is experiencing that right now, but not because he’s actually gone blind. Vanas has chosen to live without eyesight for an entire month in an effort to raise awareness and funding for the Blind Center of Nevada through his GoFundMe campaign MINUS-EYES.

The experiment began at Vanas’ 40th birthday celebration last month, a dinner and concert hosted in complete darkness by the touring Blind Cafe. The loss of sight and accompanying intense awareness of sound during those two hours made a lasting impact, so on December 1 Vanas blindfolded himself with a night mask, which he will wear 24/7 through New Year’s Eve.

Over the past two weeks, he has gone through the Blind Center’s orientation process and mobility training and has started taking lessons to learn to play piano and bass. He’s trying to maintain a normal routine—working, exercising, traveling and living as independently as he can. “Some days are amazing. Some are so frustrating you just want to cry,” he says. “It’s very lonely. [Yet] it’s also very exciting, and you’re very present and aware in a lot of ways.”

At press time, MINUS-EYES had raised $4,444. Vanas had originally planned to end the GoFundMe campaign on January 1, but he says he now plans to keep it going after removing his night mask, with money going to the Blind Center’s scheduled 2017 expansion, which he says will include a new culinary institute for blind chefs and further music, arts and fitness programs, all of which are essential in keeping the community inspired, motivated and positive. “Some days I just want to curl up and not leave my room,” Vanas says. “[But] we all have handicaps. Some of them are just more prevalent or visible than others.”

Vanas has also signed on as the new manager for The Broken Spectacles, a group of sightless, Vegas-based musicians. The band plans to audition for America’s Got Talent on January 19, which Vanas hopes will bring further attention to the Blind Center and the support and education it provides.

Share
  • Organizers praise "an amazing event" for the Sin City 8 weekender despite multiple venue changes, vow to try again in 2019.

  • Organizers announce move to "undisclosed location" hours before record attempt, citing privacy issues and difficulties with hosting sex events in Las Vegas.

  • The event was previously scheduled to take place at Embassy Suites during the Sin City 8 weekend.

  • Get More Intersection Stories
Top of Story