[Blindtlk] Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger to Serve as National Ambassador for Braille Literacy

[Freeh, Jessica]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org



Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger to Serve as
National Ambassador for Braille Literacy



Baltimore, Maryland (February 18, 2009): The National Federation of 
the Blind (NFB), the nation's leading advocate for Braille literacy, 
announced today that Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, a motivational speaker 
and former collegiate football player best known as the inspiration 
for the motion picture Rudy, will serve as a National Ambassador for 
Braille literacy.  As an ambassador, Ruettiger will help advance the 
NFB's Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, a national initiative to 
promote the importance of reading and writing Braille for blind 
children and adults.  The Braille Readers are Leaders campaign kicked 
off in July of 2008 with the unveiling of the design of a 
commemorative coin to be released on March 26, 2009, in recognition 
of the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille 
(1809-1852), the inventor of the reading and writing code for the 
blind that bears his name.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, 
said: "The National Federation of the Blind is pleased to have Mr. 
Ruettiger as part of this historic initiative to bring Braille 
literacy to all of the blind children and adults in <?xml:namespace 
prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" 
/>America who need it.  As an extremely well-known American 
personality and powerful motivational speaker, Mr. Ruettiger's impact 
as a national spokesperson for Braille literacy will surely be 
huge.  There can be no doubt that the ability to read and write 
Braille competently and efficiently is the key to education, 
employment, and success for the blind.  Despite the undisputed value 
of Braille, however, only about 10 percent of blind children in the 
United States are currently learning it.  Society would never accept 
a 10 percent literacy rate among sighted children; it should not 
accept such an outrageously low literacy rate among the blind.  The 
Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, with the support of influential 
Americans like Mr. Ruettiger, will reverse the downward trend in 
Braille literacy and ensure that equal opportunities in education and 
employment are available to all of the nation's blind."



Mr. Ruettiger said: "I am honored and pleased to serve as a National 
Ambassador for the Braille Readers are Leaders campaign.  I strongly 
believe that one person can make a difference, and I am excited to 
help the National Federation of the Blind in its mission to improve 
the lives of blind children and adults throughout the country through 
the power of Braille literacy."



For more information about the Braille Readers Are Leaders campaign 
and the Louis Braille commemorative coin, please visit 
<http://www.braille.org/>www.braille.org.





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