VOICEcorps reading service

12/12/2025

The wild and wonderful: Whether canine or human, vision begins with the retina.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Padova in Italy teamed up with a group that breeds guide dogs for those who are blind or have low vision to determine what causes vision loss in dogs so that they may breed that out of future guide dogs. 🐶

Retinal atrophy is the most common disease found in these dogs and is an inherited trait. For more information on this fascinating process, read this article written by Deborah Stull, the science news editor of Penn Today. 📑

We love bringing these interesting stories to our audience of print disabled listeners as well as our volunteers. The hope is that with more awareness of these eye diseases and the more they are studied, the better it will be for those with low vision.

Be sure to tune in to VOICEcorps any time of the day for news, articles, books, and special programming curated just for you! 💙

Listen➡ https://voicecorps.org/listen/

In collaboration with a foundation that breeds service dogs for the visually impaired, researchers at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Padova in Padova, Italy, have identified a novel variant associated with progressive retinal atrophy in thre...

12/11/2025

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What is your favorite Christmas or winter holiday related song? Do you have one or do you keep your playlists the same no matter the time of year? 🗣🎵🎶

Whether we like it or not, Christmas themed music fills our shopping trips and our car rides. Do you “jingle bell rock” or are you more of a calm “silent night” type? Let us know down in the comments below! 🎄

VOICEcorps wants to remind our listeners that if you do in fact need a mini vacation from the typical holiday themed music, you can listen any time of day! Here is our programming schedule ⬇
⭐ https://voicecorps.org/programming/schedule/ ⭐

12/10/2025

Sometimes we can really surprise ourselves. 🙂

Amy Burke, a Canadian Paralympian with albinism, fell in love with the sport of goalball but never thought that she herself would ever participate in the game.
Goalball is played with blindfolded visually impaired athletes listening for 🔔 audio cues to hear where the ball is so they can get it in the other team’s net.

Amy has gone on to help bring her team to victory in the Parapan American Games in Chile, winning gold against the U.S! Her story is not only inspiring, but it shows that great things can be accomplished despite having visual impairments. 👏

VOICEcorps welcomes all print disabled listeners to tune in to our Sports Show (the longest running sports program in central Ohio) every Saturday at 10 AM to get your sports news fix! 🏀⚽🏉⚾

Click below for our full programming schedule! ⬇
https://voicecorps.org/programming/schedule/

Goalball involves blindfolded athletes trying to physically block a ball with bells in it, something Amy Burk found “unbelievably insane” when she first tried it. But now she’s Canada’s team captain at her fifth Paralympics, and has some advice for young athletes about taking risks.

12/09/2025

VOICEcorps is happy to announce the return of our newsletter
⭐ “The Voice”! ⭐

This newsletter will be a resource for both our listeners and volunteers to look forward to several times a year. You can expect to read about updates in our operations, programming, listener and volunteer spotlights, and articles that are of interest to our audience. 👏

***If you are a listener or volunteer and wish to be on our newsletter email list, please let us know in the comments down below! *** ⬇

12/05/2025

Meet VOICEcorps vounteer Dave Brennan! ⭐

Dave first heard about VOICEcorps after moving to Columbus in 2003. He has previously volunteered at Sun Sounds, which is a reading service in Arizona.

His profession in chemistry brought his family across the country. After he retired and wanted to find opportunities to support the vision loss community, he began to volunteer as VOICEcorps reader. Dave can be heard reading the latest sports news from Sports Illustrated, personal finance news from Kiplingers, and the Kenyon Review during select Poetry & Prose Hour programs. 💙

When he is not volunteering, he reads many books of various genres. Some of his favorites include “The Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann, “Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie, “The Possessed” by Fyodor Dostoevsky and “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert Pirsig. He also enjoys hiking, astronomy, and collecting books and music. 🥾🔭📖🎵

We are so thankful to have Dave as a volunteer. His time and dedication to VOICEcorps helps us continue to help others!

Interested in becoming a volunteer? Click the link below!
⬇
https://voicecorps.org/get-involved/volunteer/

12/04/2025

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What is your favorite board game or card game to play with your family during the holidays? ♥️♠️♣️♦️

That’s right folks, we’ve somehow already arrived at December and that means a lot of family time. Is there a particular board or card game that is a must-play for your family? Leave a comment down below! ⬇

We at VOICEcorps hope that everyone has a fantastic month spending time with loved ones. Don’t forget to tell your Alexa smart speaker to “play VOICEcorps!” 🗣during your family gatherings! 💙

No Alexa device? No problem!
Stream our broadcast here ➡ https://voicecorps.org/listen/

12/04/2025

The more you know: Every year, many of us look forward to greeting cards and gifts on our birthdays and during special holidays. However, Karlee Symonds, a young woman born with a rare, genetic eye condition called Leber congenital amaurosis, has experienced anxiety all of her life when she is given a gift. 😧

This is due to the fact that greeting cards typically aren’t made for people with low vision and creates a barrier that sighted people don’t really think about. This gave Hallmark, the famous greeting card company, a chance to corner the market and create cards with both braille and vibrant contrasting colors to best suit their customers with low vision! 🎨

People with low vision deserve more options and should be considered when all greeting cards are being designed. VOICEcorps works every day to advocate for our listeners of print disabled individuals and aims to keep them informed and entertained all day long. 📻

Consider making a donation today to help us on our mission! 💙
➡https://voicecorps.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/

Why Karlee finds reading a greeting card a mortifying experienceBy Madhurima Haque| 2 days agoAs the festive season approaches, we have a lot to look forward to – good food, good company, and of course, presents. But for some, the moment of opening up a gift and reading a heartfelt message from a ...

12/03/2025

Maybe you were out making snow angels, shoveling the sidewalk, or taking a well-earned nap and you missed Giving Tuesday. If so, no worries! If Black Friday can be a whole month, then Giving Tuesday can extend into today! 💙😁

⭐$25 helps us purchase needed supplies to keep things running.
⭐$50 helps us purchase magazine subscriptions for our volunteers to read over the air for our print disabled listeners.
⭐$100 helps us with upkeep on our studios!

If you are unable to donate, please share this post with your friends and family! 🥰

If you have donated recently to our reading service, we thank you for the support. Your generosity helps thousands of Ohioans who are blind, have low vision or who have other challenges limiting their ability to read printed materials access information, books, and entertaining programming.

Click this link to donate, and again, thank you! ➡https://voicecorps.org/donate/

12/03/2025

Let's finish out Giving Tuesday strong! 💪
Support us now by clicking the link ➡ https://voicecorps.org/donate/

This year is big for VOICEcorps as it is our 50th!
That is 50 years of reading the news live in the mornings, 50 years of volunteers and a small, dedicated showing up for the print disabled community and 50 years of providing information to those who cannot access printed materials. 💙

Give the gift that truly uplifts those we love and care for right here in our community! We provide 24/7 365 days a year access to information, books, articles, and entertaining programming for print disabled Ohioans.
Help us continue to offer this FREE service! 🆓

12/02/2025

On this Giving Tuesday keep VOICEcorps in mind!

⭐$25 helps us purchase needed supplies to keep things running.
⭐$50 helps us purchase magazine subscriptions for our volunteers to read over the air to our print disabled listeners.
⭐$100 helps us with upkeep on our studios!

Give the gift that truly uplifts those we love and care for right here in our community! We provide 24/7 365 days a year access to information, books, articles, and entertaining programming for print disabled Ohioans.
Help us continue to offer this FREE service! 🆓

Support us 🗣 https://voicecorps.org/donate/
& thank you in advance for your generosity 💙

12/02/2025

Drum roll please…today is Giving Tuesday! 🥁🥁🥁

You may have a family member or neighbor with visual loss or change that struggles to read. This can create a sense of isolation and co-dependency that they may be uncomfortable with. Your generous support to VOICEcorps eases these feelings and supports independence! 💙

Give the gift that truly uplifts those we love and care for right here in our community! We provide 24/7 365 days a year access to information, books, articles, and entertaining programming for print disabled Ohioans.
Help us continue to offer this FREE service! 🆓

Support us 🗣 https://voicecorps.org/donate/
& thank you in advance for your generosity 💙

12/01/2025

Tomorrow is the big day! 👏

Giving Tuesday is a great opportunity to give and a reminder to support VOICEcorps in our mission to continue to bring information equity to thousands of Ohioans who live with a print disability of some kind. 👦👧👶

Your generous support is key in ensuring our service can continue to bring news, information, and entertainment to those with low vision, no vision, Dyslexia, Parkinsons, MS, and many other disabilities that limit access to printed materials.

Give today! 🗣 https://tinyurl.com/VCgivingtuesday25



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