KMOV's Waters Elected to Nonprofit Board in Brentwood

Laurie Waters, a well-known anchor and reporter with KMOV Channel 4 News in St. Louis, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization founded in 1911.

Ms. Waters will serve as a member of the Board of Directors through 2013 as the Society enters its second century of providing specialized vision rehabilitation, adaptive education, assistive technologies and support services to visually impaired and blind persons in metro St. Louis and southwestern Illinois.

One of the individuals who has been served by the Society is Ms. Waters’ mother, who suffers from macular degeneration. Ms. Waters says, "The Society's provision of low vision services and other relevant programs have helped to substantially enrich and enhance my Mom's quality of life." 

Ms. Waters joined KMOV in 1989 as primary reporter for KMOV's news updates. She was part of the Channel 4 News team that launched the first 24-Hour News concept at a broadcast television station in the U.S. She was subsequently promoted to KMOV nightside reporter, and soon became weekend anchor. Waters currently co-anchors News 4 St. Louis at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. on Saturday and at 5:30 and 10:00 p.m. on Sunday.

David Ekin, ACSW, LCSW, Society President, said, “We enthusiastically welcome Laurie Waters to our Board of Directors as the Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired enters our second  century of providing diverse programs, services and service partnerships to advance our benevolent mission in metropolitan St. Louis.”

Before joining KMOV Channel 4 News, Ms. Waters co-anchored the Sunday evening news at KPLR-TV in St. Louis. Her hobbies include traveling, skiing and cooking. She is married and has three stepchildren. A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Ms. Waters attended the University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston.

In 2011, the Society has been celebrating its 100th year of providing programs and services for people who are blind and visually impaired and their families in greater St. Louis. In addition, this year the Society named its clinical facility The Leslie and Robert Drews Low Vision Clinic to honor the late ophthalmologist Leslie Charles Drews, MD, and his son Robert C. Drews, MD, of St. Louis.

The not-for-profit Society serves an increasing number of older adults who are newly visually impaired, blind or deaf-blind due to age-related eye conditions by providing home-based services, specialized agency services and community activities. It also renders services to school-age students at school districts in Illinois and Missouri. It is the only agency of its kind serving greater St. Louis, and the second oldest of its kind west of the Mississippi River.

For more information about Society activities and volunteer opportunities, please see the Society website at http://slsbvi.org/ or call Christy McCutcheon at 314.968.9000. Media relations contact: Jeff Dunlap at 314.993.6925.