[Community-service] Question about involvement and resumes was Re:community service reward program idea...

Fri Jul 22 02:47:44 UTC 2016

It isn’t as if they won’t know the moment you walk in, and it can backfire. Besides, if you indicated you were working in some kind of organization like, say, NFB, you could still be sighted. I went to a volunteer opportunity tonight because they were planning strategy and doing phone calls. Should have addressed my blindness earlier. When it came time for the calls, there was nothing I could do but sit and listen. While that was valuable, it was rather um humiliating for lack of a better word.

Cindy

From: Community-Service [mailto:community-service-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ashley Bramlett via Community-Service
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 9:32 PM
To: Community Service Discussion List <community-service at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Community-service] Question about involvement and resumes was Re:community service reward program idea...

Miranda,

No, I do not think there’s a way. As someone who does not wish to draw attention to their disability, I do not list

involvement in such organizations. I agree it may draw attention unknowingly to your vision impairment or blindness, so  I prefer not to list it. I’m not in a leadership role in nfb or a disability organization anyways, so leaving it out is not a big deal.

I am a person first and foremost with excellent communication skills and research skills. I also love working with children. That is what I want to come across in the resume, not my disability. 

Others feel differently. I’d just say that whatever you do in the resume, make it represent you completely, not just your disability.

Ashley

From: Miranda via Community-Service <mailto:community-service at nfbnet.org>  

Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 6:35 PM

To: Community Service Discussion List <mailto:community-service at nfbnet.org>  

Cc: Miranda <mailto:knownoflove at gmail.com>  

Subject: [Community-service] Question about involvement and resumes was Re:community service reward program idea...

Hi,

Your message brings up a good question. If one does not wish to disclose his or her blindness prior to a job interview, is there a way to list involvement in a blindness organization or related committees or affiliates without drawing attention to the job candidates visual impairment? I am just thinking that such information may unknowingly draw attention to the visual impairment, causing unnecessary fears or misconceptions about the candidates abilities or qualifications.

Thanks so much for any thoughts, and have a wonderful weekend!

Best wishes, Miranda

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 21, 2016, at 6:08 PM, taranabella0--- via Community-Service <community-service at nfbnet.org <mailto:community-service at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

Hello Graham,

Thank you so much for your feedback. I greatly appreciate it. Just a few points.

This program is entirely voluntary. If members do not wish to receive recognition for their service, then they will not be required to join the program. We as in organization would like to award The dedication of our members. Many students are required to submit service hours, so this would be a great way for them to be tracked as well as the certificate being a wonderful asset to a future resume. 

As far as updating the spreadsheet, considering the size of the division, and the fact that one would only need to input The number of hours for each individual once a month, this would not be a difficult task and I would be willing to dedicate the time to do it. If members do not wish to submit a sentence or two once a month regarding the service they did, then they are not required to join the program. As far as what constitutes community service, I will be sending this in a later email giving more information about the program. Any member of the national Federation of the blind who serves their community would be welcome to join. 

Once again, I appreciate your feedback and if you have any other concerns we would love to have you as a member of the planning committee. You can contact me at: taranabella0 at gmail.com <mailto:taranabella0 at gmail.com> 

Thanks so much,

Tara Abella

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 21, 2016, at 8:40 AM, Graham Mehl via Community-Service <community-service at nfbnet.org <mailto:community-service at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

Hi Tara,

I really like the energy you have and encourage you to try all sort of things. With that said I have some wisdom to share from experience and I do not want to make you think this idea is bad or to discourage you.  Just so you know I was employed by a company that had multi thousand employees that had a similar program. For about 6 years I sat on the board of a chapter for a volunteer organization of said company. The chapter I was apart of had anywhere from 700 to 1000 registered members. 

Organizing and running a reward program is a lot of work. Entering all ghe info into a spreadsheet is a lot of work to make sure you do not have duplicate people that are the same. A web site form is what my company did, and the employees had logins so they were able to liminate the duplication. This approach maybe over board for our group, but something to think about. Not all people want to get recognized and just volunteer. It needs to be clear on how and where to submit the service hours and told on a regular basis. You will want to streamline as much as you can, because most people will not want to put a lot of effort into submitting hours. My company volunteer group  would have people that would lead volunteer activities and provided a form for them to fill out to tell us about the event and a summary after the event to help collect service hours and it was rarely submitted. Lastly keep in mind there are all sort of volunteer activities and many will have different definitions. The same for the term of community service.  Rhwew ew doeml oefnizations like Habitat for Humanity, Americorp, etx. Colunteering at church, county event like soup kitches. Volunteering at my son’s T-ball games, or my daughter girl scouts, etc. community service that my company may do, or being volved in a formal HOA to help the community look good and stay safe. Depending od definitions some could say volunteering on NFB chapter and division boards is volunteerism. Oh, would this reward program be for registered division members or open to the public or the the NFB as a whole?

Some food for thought. Good luck and welcome to the community service board.

--

Graham Mehl

 <mailto:blind at trailstone.com> blind at trailstone.com

NFB Central Maryland Chapter, Vice President

LCB graduate, 2016

 <http://www.freedomscientific.com/Certification> <image001.jpg>

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