UTICA, N.Y. (WWTI) — The Central Association for the Blind or Visually impaired, otherwise known as CABVI, has recently expanded its reach as a non-profit organization to service the community in the North Country. 

The organization itself is massive, covering service areas across the state and serving individuals in need.

“One of the things that I find really fascinating about people when they start asking me about our organization is the look of surprise on their face when they hear just how big we actually are,” shared CABVI Vice President of Operations Scott MacGregor. “We’ve been around since 1929, so we’re not something that’s going to go away anytime soon.”

CABVI offers many services for both individuals who are blind and visually impaired. This includes rehabilitation services such as low vision treatment, orientation and mobility treatment and education services.

To expand this reach and bring in a new revenue source, CABVI launched an online store called ClickOn Supplies. The site offers over 45,000 products ranging from post-it notes, furniture, cleaning supplies and more. 

The site was also highlighted for its competitive pricing and next business day shipping.

However, this convenience only scratches the surface in the sites goal. 

“Primarily the reason why we did this is because our mission is to help people who are blind become as independent as possible,” stated MacGregor. “One of the ways we do that is through the rehab services, which is where our profits go.

Adding, “the other way that we do that is through employment. The goal here is to grow, ClickOn Supplies as big as possible, because it will create a wealth of really good jobs for people who are blind or visually impaired.”

Out of the over 270 individuals employed by CABVI, nearly half are legally blind or visually impaired.

The organization hopes that this e-commerce site will help provide opportunities for the 70% of individuals who are blind that remain unemployed across the country.

“At the end of the day, yes, it helps CABVI. But, it also really helps all the consumers that we serve. And a lot of those consumers are now up here in this area, since we just expanded into the North country,” concluded MacGregor.

Products can be purchased through ClickOn supplies any day of the week. Next day shipping is available for all purchases made on business days.