VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Riverine Squadron 1 sailors, put their skills to work creating vibrating Easter eggs for the 2nd Annual Audible Easter Egg Hunt for Children with Visual Impairments, April 16.
Eighteen sailors from RIVRON 1 teamed up with local police and bomb squad units to build the unique eggs.
Virginia Beach Police Bomb Squad Master Police Officer Donald Noha said it is important for blind and visually impaired children to be able to participate in these types of events. It lends a sense of normalcy to their lives. The Easter egg search gives visually impaired children an opportunity to have the same fun as sighted children, in a slightly different way.
“The Sailors from Riverine Squadron 1 set prime examples of the commitment sailors have to our community,” said Noha. “Their assistance in assembling the audible eggs exemplified the pride that each Riverine has in his unit, his fellow man and his community.”
The volunteers formed an assembly line process constructing more than 400 eggs in two hours, soldering wires and protecting the connections with heat shrink sleeves, connecting up batteries inside the plastic shells and testing each egg to ensure it worked correctly.
The plastic eggs were constructed using a simple series DC switch, 90 decibel pulsing buzzer, 9 volt battery and an on/off switch connected to the bottom cover of the egg. Assembled eggs emit an audible tone that help the visually impaired child locate the eggs.
After the egg hunt, the children can keep the audible eggs and they can be used as training devices at home, in the school classroom or during physical therapy sessions.
“The kids can continue to use these special Easter eggs to practice their basic cognitive skills at home,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Jami Kilmer, gunner’s mate, RIVRON 1. “The eggs will help the kids increase their depth perception and enhance their other senses.”
“I was happy to just be able to make these eggs. Every one of these eggs helps these kids with training and physical therapy,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas Andrews, engineman, RIVRON 1. “This is just one way to give back to these kids who do not have everything that we have. One egg can make a difference in a kid’s life.”
| Date Taken: | 04.16.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.21.2011 12:48 |
| Story ID: | 69115 |
| Location: | VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, RIVRON 1 Supports Easter Egg Hunt for Visually Impaired Children, by PO1 Michael Hinchcliffe, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
