[Community-service] Hi List!

[Darian Smith]

Hi all,
 To those who have recently joined the list: Welcome!
 My name is Darian Smith. in addition to being the moderator of this list, I am a person who is very passionate about  community service, being an alumnus  of Americorps.
 
 My experience  was both very rewarding  and challenging, with most of the challenges seeming to be blindness related.
 Being a member of the federation has taught me  a few things, one of them being that  blindness  can seem like an insurmountable obstacle upon one's  initial experience, but once you get to know people with the right outlook and learn some tools and tricks that  blind folks use to make their lives work in such a positive in productive manner, you start to learn that blindness is not as much a big deal as you once thought.
  Another thing I learned in the federation is that if you see a need and you don't think it's being met; meet it!
 This list serve is one of a few ways i wanted to educate the blind community about the opportunities  to serve the public  and change their perception of us as the  constant  seekers and recipients  of help and charity   via  community service.
 Another way, and honestly  the  biggest way in which I  desire to make such a positive  impact  within  the  federation, the larger blind community and society  in general is via a community service  division.  
 I hope that it opens  up opportunities  for the blind   to do great work on the block,  int heir city, in their state  or on a national scale. I don't think it matters if you help your next door neighbor, your church, a food bankk, join an americorps program  or peace corps so long as you are challenging yourself  and societies perceptions  of yourself ; in doing this, you are changing what it means to be blind and really more important on a personal level making yourself feel great, because we all want to do our part  to give back and pay it forward.
 if anyone wants to take part in the building of a division,  please e - mail me off list. Please know this is going to take quite a bit of work and will require great amount of commitment  to get to the point where you are recognized  as a member of a new division in the federation. 
 if anyone has service stories or opportunities  they would like to share, please feel free to share  them here on this list.  I am sure we all will benefit from what you have to give 
   warmest regards,
   Darian Smith