<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>Welcome to the list, all the experiences you have sound wonderful. I can't wait to get to know you better. I don't know if you have seen it yet or not, but we have a project for The month of May that we are doing, encouraging people to get out into the community, I will be sending out the flyer again on the listserv to share it with everyone, and to also inform everyone that our next call will be May 15 at 8:30 PM Eastern. We would love to have you join us, I can't wait to get to know you better and hear more about your experiences.<br>Dacia</div><div id="AppleMailSignature"><br>Sent from my iPhone</div><div><br>On May 5, 2016, at 2:33 AM, Darian Smith via Community-Service <<a href="mailto:community-service@nfbnet.org">community-service@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8">Dear Miranda.,<div class=""> Welcome to the list!</div><div class=""> My name is Darian Smith and I currently serve as president of the National Federation of the Blind Community Service Division.<br class=""><div class=""><div class=""> We are glad to hear your story and are happy that you have found our division.</div><div class=""> Our division is a division on the rise and focused on the goal of engaging the blind in service to the communities we live in. we believe that service can not only be a path to employment, or can be a transformative experience for the individual, but can be a means through which we can raise the expectations of the blind in society. </div><div class=""> It sounds like you have a lot of experiences and I can tell you that we would love to hear about all of them. we have a blog and are always looking for stories of volunteerism that people would like to contribute to it.</div><div class=""> If you should have an interest in sharing some of your stories, please e-mail our blog editor at <a href="mailto:blog@nfbcommunityservice.org" class="">blog@nfbcommunityservice.org</a></div><div class=""> if you want to check out our website go to <a href="http://www.nfbcommunityservice.org" class="">www.nfbcommunityservice.org</a> where you can find out all you want to know about the division, it’s board of directors and much more.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> Feel free to ask any questions of us and feel free to contact me anytime at <a href="mailto:president@nfbcommunityservice.org" class="">president@nfbcommunityservice.org</a></div><div class=""> And the rest of the list look forward to hearing from you soon!</div><div class=""> Best,</div><div class=""> Darian ” </div><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On May 4, 2016, at 9:56 PM, Miranda B. via Community-Service <<a href="mailto:community-service@nfbnet.org" class="">community-service@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">Hello everyone,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">My name is Miranda, and my husband and I live in Virginia. I will start by sharing that volunteering in my community and beyond is a very large part of my life. As I am a college student, my current volunteer experiences are more geared towards my future career goals in order to gain more focused and relevant experience.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">Growing up, my mom instilled a very strong belief in my brother and me about the importance of giving back to our community. That belief has stuck with me over the years. After moving out on my own, I had the opportunity to be a big sister with my local Big Brothers Big Sisters program. As a previous little sister myself, I thoroughly enjoyed giving back to an organization that had meant so much to me as a pre-teen. During that time, I was also able to schedule medical transportation for senior citizens in my community. As someone who depends on others for transportation (mainly public transit in my case), I understand the importance of knowing that reliable transportation is available.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">My current volunteer opportunities include assisting in an adult English as a second language (ESL) program, and mentoring high school exchange students as they attend a year of high school in the United States.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">I also completed an internship last summer welcoming refugees to the United States. There are other opportunities within my community and beyond that I would like to explore in the future as time allows. Such opportunities may come sooner rather than later, as my university requires all residential students to complete community service hours each semester. As I wholeheartedly agree with the philosophy that volunteering enhances one’s personal and professional development while engaging in the community, I am excited to fulfill this requirement.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">I do not share my experiences to brag by any means. On the contrary, I am sharing the opportunities I have been honored to take part in as a way of encouraging anyone who may wonder if volunteering as someone with a visual impairment works or is really worth it. I can say that yes, the opportunities are there, and yes, it works. If one is willing to combine patience, grace, and flexability, the rewards far outweigh the risks of stepping out to enjoy the adventures ahead.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">Thanks for letting me share, and have a wonderful week!<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">--Miranda<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; 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