[Community-Service] August 2021 Newsletter

[Jeanetta price]

OMG! This newsletter is POPPING! 🍿 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 16, 2021, at 4:10 PM, Maggie Stringer via Community-Service <community-service at nfbnet.org> wrote:
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> 
> “Beyond the Six Dots”
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> National Federation of the Blind Community Service Division
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> August 2021 Newsletter
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> We use a white cane, slate & stylus, and screen readers in between,
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> We read from the left, write from the right, and will tap tap onto any scene.
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> We want our communities to know what we’ve got, a commitment to serve,
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> Beyond the Six Dots!
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> WE’VE GOT SUNSHINE
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> In celebration of Happiness Happens Month, here’s your sunshine for the month of August. Follow us to the corner of Happy and Healthy. “No medicine cures what happiness cannot.”
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> Question: Why didn’t the elephant buy a suitcase for his summer vacation?
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> Answer: Because he already has a trunk!
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> Don’t think about it, laugh about it!
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>  
> POPPED TO THE TOP
> The NFB COMMUNITY SERVICE DIVISION wants to thank all the popcorn lovers that made our annual fundraiser a popping success! Because of your generous donations and your buttery love for delicious treats, our Division not only reached our goal of $10,000! They doubled their efforts in Double Good style!
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> Now that we have had a taste of the cheddar greatness, we would like to take this moment to give “POPS” to some very special people. Roll call…Thank you, Gloria Nathan-Cherry for organizing an Allstar fundraiser, and Marvin Griffin also known as the “Pop King” who was our top pop seller that sold over $1,800 of delicious popcorn. Wow! Now that’s a whole lot of carmel cheesy. We also want to give a kernel salute to the Willing Workers Committee. Your participation and dedication to our community project put the ‘fun’ in fundraiser! Last but not least, thank you to all the supporters not to mention the hungry bellies for popping with us!
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> MEET THE BOARD
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> The Community Service Division recently held an election and voted in all of the following members. It is an honor to introduce our newly elected and those re-elected for another term. These individuals exemplify dedication, compassion, and the spirit of serving!
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> Jeanetta Price BSW, M. Ed, President
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> Ms. Price is a bold, beautiful, black woman, Texas raised, and hot water cornbread fed. Ms. Price is an Alumni of Lamar University, Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. In addition, she works as a License Mortgage Loan Originator.  Ms. Price is known for her high-spirit, unwavering faith, divine compassion for others, community service endeavors, and advocacy on behalf of the blind community and beyond. With that being said, Ms. Price humbly serves as President of The National Federation of the Blind Community Service Division for her third consecutive term.  Want He do it!? Ms. Price leads with love, hope, and determination to change communities all over the world one service at a time. Ms. Price strongly believes that the PRICE is right now to get involved by serving others wherever you are so that they can live the life they want.
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> Mirranda Williams BSW, Vice President
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> Mrs.  Williams is an original Georgia Peach that was transplanted to the soil of Baltimore, Maryland in 2017. Mrs. Williams stated, “I am married to the chocolate chip to my cookie, Antonio Williams for a little over eight years. “Mrs. Williams educational background is comprised of an AS in Special Ed from Albany State University, BSW from Morgan State, and this coming spring22, she will receive her MSW. Mrs. Williams have been completely blind since the age of 15. She attended the Louisiana Center for the Blind in 2011 and became active in portions of the NFB since then. However, the most important things about her goes a little like this: “My favorite color is purple, I love R&B, and my favorite thing to eat is potatoes in any form.”
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> Daria Bannerman, Secretary
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> Daria have been a part of the Community Service Division of the National Federation of the Blind since March of 2021. She works as an Employment specialist. Daria mentioned what she enjoys about both roles is the opportunity to have an impact on people and changing people’s lives. Daria stated that she loves being a part of an organization that enjoys giving back to the community with lots of love, support and fun.  She is excited about her new role as secretary. In this role, Daria will keep track of any ideas about different projects, and have a chance to collaborate with people all over the world.
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> Natalie Segura, Treasurer
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> Natalie is your ideal “Country Girl” with the boots, hat, and heart the size of Texas in which she resides.  Natalie is always willing to help others and utilizes her horses as rescue animals during the floods in Houston, Texas. Natalie has been elected to her second term as Treasurer, and she enjoys keeping the books while serving in her boots. Three fun facts about Natalie:
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> 1.  Hobby: Fishing
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> 2.  Favorite Food: Seafood
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> 3. Cooking is her superpower!
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> Marvin K. Griffin, Board Member
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> A man whose love affair with the arts spans 4 decades. From sketching and sculpting as a teen, to singing to thousands weekly for the past 15 years, to cooking for his family and friends, Marvin has been loyal to the sweet rewards of artistic expression. Since losing his eyesight in 2011, Marvin’s plight is to continue to be an inspiration and a steadfast example of true human resiliency. He volunteers at his church as the Men’s choir director, tends to his own garden, and has even gone deep sea fishing occasionally. Though these are hobbies to many, Marvin uses these activities to dispel the “I can’t” mentality. In his spare time, he reads mystery detective novels and is currently teaching himself to play the bass guitar.
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> Kamille Richardson, Board Member
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> Kamille hales from the great state of North Carolina. She is a recent addition to the community service division. In July 2021, she was elected as one of three board members. Her mother, who was A strong presence in her life, influenced her community service journey. She led with a servant’s heart which inspired Kamille to do the same. Kamille especially enjoys serving in the Area of assistive technology. She often assists others with navigating the zoom platform and any other technology needs that may present themselves.
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> Dr. LaShawna Fant, Board Member
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> Dr. Fant is from the state of Mississippi.  She has been on the Community Service Division board for three years.  In July 2021, she was elected as one of three board members.  As a child, she saw family and community members demonstrate generosity and kindness to one another.  Hence, she has lived her life helping mankind and lending her services to strengthen communities.  Her life’s focus is to make this world a little better by fulfilling God’s purpose for her life.
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> WISH UPON A STAR
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> We regret to inform our community about the passing of one of our dearest members, Star-Shemah White. She was a flickering light that set afire in many hearts and will always live long in our memory. Our federation family sends healing prayers and comforting hugs to her family, friends, and to all those touched by her sparkling spirit.
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> "Although it’s difficult today to see beyond the sorrow. May looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow." Author Unknown
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> THE ARCH DOESN’T END HERE
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> “To be connected with a group of fabulous Willing Workers is phenomenal!”
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> The magnificent colors of hope were brightly and brilliantly showcased throughout our seminar on July 8th during the National Federation of the Blind 2021 National Convention.
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> Reflections by
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> June ‘No Smoke’ Hunter
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> “Talana Townsend shared about being hopeful and expecting brighter days! She went on to compare it to a rainbow; you need both rain and sun to make its color appear. In her own magnetic way, she told us to say it again and again. Her message was so powerful it inspired me to add my own twist!
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> H- is for HAPPINESS 
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> O- is for OPPORTUNITIES
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> P-is for PERSISTENCE
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> E-is for ENDURANCE & EXCELLENCe”
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> Remember: “The most important thing is to enjoy your life, to be happy, it’s all that matters.”-Unknown
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> Adrienne Nelson
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> “My reflection with the seminar was super-Popilious. To be connected with a group of fabulous Willing Workers is phenomenal.  I am so very grateful to be a blessing sharing my voice whether speaking, texting or singing gives me great joy. Thank You Lord for hearing my prayers to be surrounded by heart felt beautiful people with such energy, strength and creativity to be confident and bold enough to take a stand to serve when they can and how they can.
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> I enjoyed being a part of the Pop-up fundraiser. I had a bundle of popilific fun. My fingers were pecking away sending out text and Facebook messages. I look forward to us doing this fundraiser next year. I am so blessed to be among great and solid creative family. We are a voice in this world speaking loud with a whole bunch of plentiful and overflowing substances that brings forth much rich and gratifying volume full of marvelous impact and support.”
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> Kim Davis, Director of Volunteers
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> Ronald McDonald House
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> “Looking back on working with the National Federation of the Blind makes my heart very happy. Jeanetta first reached out to me asking to team up and work together a month or back and I thought, of course we want to do this! But little did I know how above and beyond this amazing group of people would go! Everyone came together and put a lot of effort into getting us items that we need around the Ronald McDonald House that help make the families that stay with us more comfortable and feel at Home. These items are so important to us and the families here at RMH. So having a group of people willing to come together to get us blankets, toiletry kits, snack bags, notes of encouragement, and just overall love and support was absolutely amazing. We really felt the love! We knew to be expecting these items for delivery, but let me tell you, when they came in, we were truly over joyed by the outcome. You could tell so much love and support were put into the project. Everything was so nice and cute and perfectly packaged for us to hand out to the families. The blankets were adorable and cozy. We were so insanely excited to get everything to the families because we knew they were going to love everything as much as we did. And of course, the Notes of Encouragement, including some with braille was just so special. I felt like it really connected the groups together. You never know what others are going through but being able to learn about and support others even when you're going through something difficult is just so beautiful. This idea really touched my heart as I'm sure it did with our families here as well. And we can't forget about the wonderful CSD seminar. The energy was electric. I was smiling the whole time. So much happiness and joy and love. What an amazing and wonderful group of people!! I am so so so grateful for everything the National Federation of the Blind did for RMH Maryland. We are so appreciative and grateful for the support you all provided to us. We can't thank you enough. We love you!!”
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> We hope you had an excellent convention experience and found strength and motivation within our seminar. Remember, when you mix vibrant sunlight and droplets of rain, beautiful hearts will come together to build a community of rainbows.
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> A SWEET GEORGIA TREAT
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> Written by Adrienne Nelson
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> August is national Peach Month! Drum roll please… raising the curtain for our CSD’s Georgia sweet peach! A Georgia peach is a sweet delight when picked at the right time and during the right Season. Allow me to introduce one of the sweetest peaches from our Community Service Division. Her spirit is sparkling and bubbly like expensive champagne, her heart is golden and exquisite as the rarest and most flawless jewel. She is always helpful, compassionate, and understanding; a symbol of love. Even though she is knowledgeable with technology and knows her skill. The most beautiful, gratifying and outstanding feature about Julie Moses is the lovely and devoted Mom that she is. I enjoy hearing her journey through motherhood. Julie and her daughter, Brenlee, know how to make your day so full of awesomeness and amazingness with an abundance of joy!
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> From June’s Kitchen, Georgia Peach Cobbler Ingredients:
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> Peaches peeled and sliced, unsalted butter, flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Bake at 375 degrees. Sprinkle toppings with that brown sugar and then BAMMMMM!!!!! You got Julie's magic!
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> "When life gets blurry adjust your focus.”
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> We thank Julie Moses for inspiring and empowering our blind communities. We appreciate everything that you do and declare you as a peach who’s eager to teach! We admire your compassion to serve and your commitment to go ‘beyond the six dots’!
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> ONE EYE GLASS AT A TIME
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> Written by Donavon Cavender
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> “A Lion’s Story”
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> My name is Donavon Cavender. I am a board member of the NFB of Arkansas and the Vice President of the at-large chapter of the NFB of Arkansas. I have been a member of the local Lions club here in Harrison, Arkansas since 2018.
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> The Harrison Noon Lion’s Club does three things when it comes to helping people with their eyesight. One of them is that we help recycle old glasses that people are not using anymore. We have multiple places in town where people can drop those off. Every so often one of the Lion’s Club members goes around to collect the glasses and take them to the eye center at Walmart to be sent out to be recycled.
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> We also help out with the local school district by providing our service to help check the students' eyes. We have a machine that will scan their eyes and it will let us know if the student needs glasses or not. If they do them then the machine will print out a referral for them to take to their Eye Doctor.
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> Moreover, our organization assist those who cannot afford eyeglasses or even the eye exam at an Eye Doctor. We do have an application process for that person to go through to help us determine if that person is eligible for the financial assistant. We as the local Lion’s Club have partnered with at least one of the local Eye Doctors to help cover the cost of the eye exam and the glasses.
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> This is one of the many ways the Harrison Noon Lion’s Club helps serve the community of Harrison, Arkansas and the surrounding area.
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> FAMILY FUN DAY
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> Written by Leigh Starbright
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> We were super excited whenever our parents would rush into our bedrooms first thing in the morning and shout excitedly, “Wake up, wake up! It’s family fun day!” When we were little ones, it could mean anything; a day at the pool or going to the local town fair with the hopes of cotton candy. It was always a surprise and we didn’t mind the suspense. My siblings and I would get up and dressed so fast, we were like little miniature road runners.
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> As we got older though, our parents would trick us from time-to-time. Our Family Fun days would have an extra surprise or two. I think the first trick was when we were all going to spend the weekend at our grandparent’s house. They were driving the wrong direction and Mom told us we had to make a little stop before going to see Grandma and Grandpa. Apparently, our Dad knows how to trim trees! And he had a job in mind for each one of us. We were going to be his tree trimming cleanup crew, then have lunch with the elderly couple that couldn’t stop thanking us for all of our help.
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> Now don’t get us wrong, we eventually had fun once we got into the groove of being a helper, but we became more like the cautious coyote whenever there was the burst of enthusiasm for a Family Fun day.
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> Our parents were always helping a family member, friend, colleague, neighbor, or a lot of the times, a stranger. I remember I was in my teens when one of our neighbors was not able to go grocery shopping for herself anymore. Whenever we went to the store, my Mom would always call and ask Mrs. Wonder if she needed anything while we were out. On this particular day, Mom asked if I would deliver Mrs. Wonder’s groceries so she could get our dinner started. I tried every excuse I could think of to get out of doing it, but nothing was working.
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> I didn’t want to admit then, but I was nervous about going to her house by myself. I had never been there without one of my parents and what if I don’t do it right? Mrs. Wonder was always friendly and nice to us, that wasn’t the issue. I just wasn’t sure if I was ready to help a blind person all by myself.
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> I grudgingly walked over and knocked on her door. She told me to come in and wipe my feet on the rug. Trying to think of all the ways I had seen my parents interact with Mrs. Wonder, I told her who I was and that I had four bags of groceries for her. I took everything out of the bags, then one by one, asked where she would like for me to put that particular item. Much to my surprise, we sorted through all the groceries fairly quickly and felt confident that I had done it right! This wasn’t so bad after all, as a matter fact, I realized I had gotten myself all worked up over nothing.
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> After the groceries were all sorted and put away, Mrs. Wonder asked if I would sit and talk with her for a few minutes. I don’t know if she saw my nervousness when I first arrived, but this was the first time she and I had ever had a one-on-one conversation. It was nice. We talked about my schoolmates, classes, and teachers. The movies I watched, the music I liked, and the books I read. I had learned that she wasn’t a fan of televised news and thoroughly missed being able to read her daily newspapers while drinking her morning cup of hot tea. Before I even realized what I was doing, I volunteered to read the newspaper to her. I told her I wasn’t very good at reading aloud, but I was willing to give it a try, if she would like.
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> You would have thought I was Ed McMann with a smile so big. She was so ecstatic it was intoxicating! I was eager to start reading her newspaper that very moment.
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> I spent the next seven years reading anything and everything she wanted me to. Newspapers, magazines, cookbooks, short novels, old family letters and greeting cards. I learned so much from her; some of my favorite teen memories were spent with her. And as an added bonus, my confidence in reading aloud eventually got me a summer job at our local library!
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> My siblings and I are all grown up and have families of our own now. Often, we reminisce about all the family fun days and the added tricks over the years. Don’t tell Mom & Dad, but some of our best memories come from those ‘little stops’ along the way.
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> REPRESENT YOUR STATE
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> South Carolina 65th Annual State Convention
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> Friday, August 20th to Sunday, August 22nd
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> To register for the virtual convention, visit:
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> www.nfbofsc.org 
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> RESOURCES
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> Eye Health month! Don’t take your eyes for granted! Learn how to take care of them, get the facts about specific eye problems, and help others learn about healthy vision.
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> https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health
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> Lions Clubs
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> To make a donation or to find a club near you, visit:
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> https://www.lionsclubs.org/en
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> EDITOR’S NOTES
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> We want to feature you in our next issue! Write about your personal experience with your community service project and submit the article by the first of the month.
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> We also want to help promote your community projects and state affiliate events. Share your calendar with Beyond The Six Dots and we will feature your events in the ‘Represent Your State’ section of our next issue. Contact our editor to submit your calendar events and featured articles. (The editor may edit the Length and/or wording of your article.)
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> NFB Community Service Division
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> www.facebook.com/communityservicedivision/
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> President Jeanetta Price
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> Email: price.jeanetta at gmail.com
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> Mobile: (409) 344-1005
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> Newsletter Editor: Maggie Stringer
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> Email: Ravensfan784 at gmail.com
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> Mobile: (443) 750-0070
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> ONE MINUTE MESSAGE
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> 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. We are survivors!
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> _______________________________________________
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