[Blindtlk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] Erik Weihenmeyer on ExpeditionImpossible

Wed Aug 31 19:06:38 UTC 2011

Points well taken. I throw this out for consideration. I think of the NFB
much like a canoe on a lake. With enough people paddling, we get somewhere
and there is room for a passenger or two--maybe people who can't pick up an
ore but need a ride just the same. I don't want to run people off, but I
don't want them to regard us as some state or federally funded outfit that
is owed nothing because they've already paid through their taxes. Mostly we
get things done through volunteer effort, and so we must at least let people
know about the source from whence they take and try to convince them that
borrowing would be a better path. This goes well beyond Erik. In my state we
used to work so hard to separate the help we gave from an appeal to join or
contribute that it almost never happened. There are still people we help who
can't give us the time of day, but at least we make it clear that it is
people who give their volunteer time that has helped them get back their
child or start their business.

Gary

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Jeanette Fortin
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 12:35 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] Erik Weihenmeyer on
ExpeditionImpossible

amen, i totally agree, this kind of attitude that folks owe us something for

helping them out is what can run others off, we need to support folks doing 
things to show that blind people can achieve their dreams no matter how big 
or small. Jeanette
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Evans" <drevans at bellsouth.net>
To: <gwunder at earthlink.net>; "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 10:52 AM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] Erik Weihenmeyer on 
ExpeditionImpossible

>
> Dear fellow NFB members,
>
> Let us not judge Eric so harshly on this.
> We are all at different points in our own lives and with dealing with 
> Blindness.
> Eric is just doing what interest him right now and His focus is not on the

> same things as maybe we are focused on.
> When we help someone, do we ask "are you a very dedicated NFB member and 
> supporter before we throw them a safety line and help them?"  Do we do 
> this with everyone we help to see if they think the way we do, act the way

> we do, believe the way we do before we offer our help?
> Is it not just enough that they need help and they will accept our help 
> without running a background check on us, our beliefs, politics, religion,

> bank account and race?
> If Eric is busy doing the things that are important and interest him in 
> his life right now, why should we judge him?
> Have we all not been in a position in our lives where we did not wish to 
> get too involved in some matter or cause that someone has approached 
> about?  A good example would be the last time the Jehovah's Witnesses 
> knocked on my door with the Mezuzah on the door post.
> Please believe me when I say that I respect other people's religions, but 
> I am not exactly going out to attend their meetings, causes or points of 
> view.
> It is just the way life is and the way things are.
>
> I say that if Eric wants to come and speak, again,  we welcome him and 
> give him our undivided attention.  If he wants to come and be amongst us, 
> talk to and with us and take part in our convention and activities, he is 
> welcome. If he is too busy with the other activities he loves and has to 
> do, we should support him and wish him well.
> We have gotten from him about as much as he has gotten from us.  An NFB 
> flag rests on the top of the highest mountain in the World that he placed 
> there as the first Blind man to climb it, with our sponsorship and 
> support.
> We risked our money and he risked his life.  We got some positive, and 
> negative publicity just as he did and Eric came and spoke to our 
> Convention in Atlanta that year.
> The deal for him to speak to us again, maybe  in the works and maybe not. 
> If it is, it maybe more in the form of a business deal as he makes his 
> living now as a motivational speaker surrounding his adventures in extreme

> sports.
> This attitude of, "you are either with us or against us" needs to stop. 
> It just drives otherwise good people away.
>
> David Evans, NFBF and GD Jack.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Gary Wunder" <GWunder at earthlink.net>
> To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 4:26 PM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] Erik Weihenmeyer on 
> ExpeditionImpossible
>
>
>> No con, just a wish that he had come to see himself as one of us, taken 
>> not
>> only to climbing mountains but to talking with people like you and me 
>> about
>> how to build a chapter, run our adventure camps, speak to students at our
>> centers, etc. He climbed the mountain we agreed to help him climb. My
>> sadness is that he did not sign-on to do the smaller things that made our
>> support possible.
>>
>>
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>
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