[Blindtlk] National Federation of the Blind Awards $50,000

[Freeh, Jessica]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<?xml:namespace prefix = o 
ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />



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


National Federation of the Blind Awards $50,000




Second Annual Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards Presented at 2009 Convention

Baltimore, Maryland (July 13, 2009): The National 
Federation of the Blind presented $50,000 in cash 
awards to individuals and organizations that have 
made outstanding contributions toward achieving 
the full integration of the blind into society on 
a basis of equality.  The second annual Dr. Jacob 
Bolotin Awards honored eight innovators in the 
blindness field at the National Federation of the 
Blind annual convention in <?xml:namespace prefix 
= st1 ns = 
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Detroit on Wednesday, July 8.



Awards in the amount of $10,000 were given to 
Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind and Diane 
Croft.  A joint award of $10,000 was also given 
to the National Organization of Parents of Blind 
Children (NOPBC) and the National Association to 
Promote the Use of Braille (NAPUB) for their 
Braille Readers Are Leaders contest.  Abe Nemeth, 
John Andrew English, the Princeton Braillists, 
and the American Action Fund for Blind Children 
and Adults were each awarded $5,000.



Dr. Jacob Bolotin––the namesake of the award 
program––was a blind physician who lived and 
practiced in Chicago in the early twentieth 
century.  He was widely known and respected in 
Chicago and throughout the Midwest during his 
career, which spanned the period from 1912 until 
his untimely death at the age of thirty-six in 
1924.  He was particularly recognized for his 
expertise on diseases of the heart and 
lungs.  Bolotin used his many public speaking 
engagements to advocate for the employment of the 
blind and their full integration into society.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: “Dr. Jacob Bolotin 
was a pioneer who overcame low expectations and 
discrimination to become a renowned member of the 
medical profession without the benefit of the 
support services and civil rights protections 
available to blind people today.  The National 
Federation of the Blind is proud to honor the 
memory and spirit of Dr. Bolotin by recognizing 
and financially supporting those who are doing 
exceptional work to help achieve the shared dream 
of Dr. Bolotin and the National Federation of the 
Blind––a society where the blind are treated as 
productive, independent, and equal citizens.”



The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program is funded 
through the generosity of Dr. Bolotin’s nephew 
and niece, Alfred and Rosalind Perlman.  The late 
Mrs. Perlman established the Alfred and Rosalind 
Perlman Trust to endow the award.  Income from 
the trust is distributed to the National 
Federation of the Blind and the Santa Barbara 
Foundation for the purpose of administering the 
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program.  Mrs. Perlman 
also wrote The Blind Doctor: The Jacob Bolotin 
Story.  The book was published by Blue Point 
Books and is available through the National 
Federation of the Blind.  A portion of the 
proceeds from book sales will also benefit the 
award program.  For more information about the 
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program, including more 
information about this year’s winners, as well as 
eligibility criteria and application procedures, 
visit <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org.



###