[Blindtlk] National Federation of the Blind Announces Louisiana Tech Will Use Braille Coin in Coin Toss

[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


National Federation of the Blind Announces
Louisiana Tech Will Use Braille Coin in Coin Toss


Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar
  Will Be Used in Coin Toss at Bulldogs Game


Ruston, Louisiana (October 26, 2009): The 
National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s 
leading advocate for Braille, is pleased
to announce that Louisiana Tech University will 
use a 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver 
Dollar in the coin toss at its football game
on November 6.  The popular Louisiana Tech 
Bulldogs, a NCAA division I football team, will play the Boise State Broncos.

Congress authorized the minting in 2009 of 
400,000 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollars 
to mark the two-hundredth anniversary of the 
birth of Louis Braille (1809–1852) and to support 
the efforts of the National Federation of the 
Blind to promote literacy among blind 
Americans.  This unique and beautiful 
commemorative coin is the first U.S. currency to 
feature tactile, readable Braille.



A portion of the proceeds from sales of the 2009 
Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar  will be 
used to support the NFB’s “Braille Readers are 
Leaders” campaign, a national initiative created 
to double the number of blind children learning 
Braille by 2015, improve certification standards 
for teachers of Braille, and conduct innovative 
programs to support Braille literacy.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: “We are pleased 
Louisiana Tech University is recognizing the 
critical importance of Braille literacy for the 
blind by including the Louis Braille Bicentennial 
Silver Dollar in its football game on November 
6.  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; yet only one in ten 
blind children in the United States are currently 
learning it.  We are asking all Americans to help 
us in ensuring literacy, education, productivity, 
and success for every blind American by 
purchasing a 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar today.”



Those interested in ordering a 2009 Louis Braille 
Bicentennial Silver Dollar or the new Braille 
Education Set, which features the coin in a 
collectible folder designed to highlight the life 
and legacy of Louis Braille, should visit 
<http://www.braille.org./>www.braille.org or 
<http://www.usmint.gov/>www.usmint.gov or call 
1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).  The Louis Braille 
Bicentennial Silver Dollar and the Braille 
Education Set will only be available until 
December 11, 2009.   For more information about 
the National Federation of the Blind and the 
Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, visit 
<http://www.braille.org/>www.braille.org.





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About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National 
Federation of the Blind is the largest and most 
influential membership organization of blind 
people in the United States.  The NFB improves 
blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, 
research, technology, and programs encouraging 
independence and self-confidence.  It is the 
leading force in the blindness field today and 
the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 
the NFB opened the National Federation of the 
Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and 
training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.