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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Hello All:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Tonight I want to keep you all abreast of our progress for our Preservation of Historical Documents (PHD) Committee.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>We are at the hurry-up-and-wait stage right now, but in the next month, we will be jumping! You read in The Blind Coloradan today how you can help, by helping fund the project and volunteers later this fall. We have made some good progress in our funding, but have a long way to go. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I am pasting below a press release that went out earlier this week about funding received by NFBCO for our PHD project. We all like to be on the winning team. Please circulate this press release to your local media to bring attention to our efforts to preserve our blind Colorado history for everyone in Colorado to research and learn the truth about blindness. Encourage them to be part of our winning team. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Peggy Chong<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing align=center style='text-align:center'><b>Saving Our History We Cannot Currently Read Ourselves<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing align=center style='text-align:center'><b>Colorado’s Blind Receives<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing align=center style='text-align:center'><b>Funding For Phase Two<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing align=center style='text-align:center'><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing align=center style='text-align:center'><b> </b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><b>For Immediate Release</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><b> </b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><b>Denver, Colorado (August 3, 2020):</b> Today The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado (NFBCO) announced the receipt of a grant of $7,500 from the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, based in Baltimore, Maryland to support its on-going fundraising efforts for phase two of the Preservation of the four-year, Historical Documents Project launched by the NFBCO more than a year ago. This and other funding have been sent to the NFBCO at 2233 W. Shepperd Rd in Littleton. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing>“After a water pipe break in a rarely-visited storage room at the Colorado Center for the Blind (CCB) and NFBCO headquarters, we were surprised to find our own history right under our noses” said Scott LaBarre, NFBCO State President. “Unfortunately, much of it was inaccessible to us.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing>“Too often Blindness research and historical documents, preserved in libraries are from agencies for the blind, run by sighted people or medical studies to learn how different blind people are from sighted people.” LaBarre added. “In the national Federation of the Blind, we know we are not different and will soon have excellent documentation from right here in Colorado, from the blind leaders of the past to demonstrate to the newly blinded and citizens of Colorado just how much alike we are.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing>Old records are currently being scanned to preserve the records from future handling during the preservation process. Each file will be sent through an Optical Character Recognition ((OCR) process, knowing that at least half of the old records will not be recognized due to poor quality of the original documents as well as handwritten records from as far back as 1915.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing>“Volunteers will transcribe the non OCR’ed files into Word documents that can be read by screen readers used by the blind.” said Peggy Chong, Chair of the project. “When all salvageable records have been transcribed, we will have a fully accessible and searchable history of the blind in Colorado, as told by the blind ancestors of our past.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing>“Do to the nature of our minority status, we do not have the ancestors of the past to tell us the same old family stories over and over again as other minorities and families have the luxury of hearing.” Chong continued. Sadly, many of the records left behind from those who had families, were tossed after their passing as their blind loved one left them in formats such as New York Point or Braille that the sighted descendants could not read. What we have are sole-source, one-of-a-kind treasures rarely found today, and certainly not in any public library anywhere in the country.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> “Blind pioneers of Colorado have paved the way for us, although many of their stories are still unknown to us. To have access to their experience in their own words, their challenges, triumphs and descriptions of techniques they used to build their lives, careers and support their families will inspire our students.” said Julie Deden, Director of the Colorado Center for the Blind. “We look forward to encouraging our students to research their blind ancestors in these files to build confidence and re-enforce that they are not alone.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing># # # #<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><b>About the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing>The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado is the oldest and largest organization of blind Coloradans. The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><b>CONTACT</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing>For information about this initiative please contact<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Peggy Chong<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:chongpeggy10@gmail.com">chongpeggy10@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>303-745-0473<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>2233 W Shepperd RD<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Littleton CO, 80120<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>