<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Fellow Federationists:<div class=""> </div><div class=""> As I am sure you are well aware, we are less than two short weeks away from the 77th Convention of the National Federation of the Blind. </div><div class=""> On Wednesday, July 12 The NFB Community Service Division will have our annual seminar and business meeting. This meeting will be located at Wekiwa 10, level 2. registration will occur at 6:00 and the meeting agenda will start at about 6:30.</div><div class=""> At this meeting we will hear from scholarship finalists and other leaders and luminaries in our movement about how community service raises expectations of the blind and lifts us up as human beings.</div><div class=""> We will also share with each other the positives and challenges associated with the blind serving in a community where we are the minority and contemplate the importance of this service for ourselves, our movement, and beyond.</div><div class=""> Of course, we will talk about the "Green Up" service project and our exciting trivia night. We will also discuss the programs, activities and overall future of our division. . </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> Another important part of this meeting will be the election of the board of directors of the Community Service Division.</div><div class=""> These elections are open to anyone who is present and has paid their $5 membership dues, allowing them to run and/or vote for any position at the time of elections .</div><div class=""> The offices up for election this year, and the people who currently serve in those offices are as follows:</div><div class=""> President: Darian Smith </div><div class="">Vice President: Dacia Cole</div><div class="">Secretary: Chris Parsons </div><div class="">Treasurer: Jonathan Franks</div><div class="">Board member: Tara Abella </div><div class="">Board member: Ronnie Bellomy </div><div class="">Board member: Kyra Sweeney </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> What all is involved in serving on the board?</div><div class=""> a commitment to attend one teleconference board meeting a month. </div><div class="">Chairing a committee (e.g. membership, fundraising, etc) or heading up a major project (e.g. convention service project, trivia night, etc)</div><div class="">needs to be reachable and responsive via email, text,phone or some combination of these. (basically, you need to be willing to work)</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> possess a strong interest/belief in community service, it’s impact on the individual and community.</div><div class=""> Possess a strong belief in the true abilities of blind people and a desire to use service as a way to build up our blind brothers and sisters and to support the mission of the NFB and fellow federationists.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">What are the general responsibilities of each position?</div><div class="">I am sure that you are wondering just what are the responsibilities of each board position.</div><div class="">In general, there are some specific responsibilities associated with certain offices on the board of directors, but there is also a lot of flexibility or room for an individual to make an impact based upon the needs of the division, and the talents of the individual.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> Let’s start by quickly discussing the different board positions and their responsibilities.</div><div class="">President</div><div class=""> The President has the responsibility of overseeing the overall operations of the division.</div><div class="">this individual chairs board meetings,appoints committees, works with the membership and the board on setting the direction of the division, and develop initiatives and programing that grow the division, support it’s membership and strengthen the National Federation of the Blind.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Vice President</div><div class="">The Vice President Supports the efforts of the president, and the work of the division actively and consistently.</div><div class="">This individual is the right-hand person of the president,and as such counted on heavily as a tone setter and steadying force.</div><div class="">This person is responsible for handling duties normally associated with the president when the president is unable to fulfill those duties (e.g. chairing or attending meetings or handling projects or communications). </div><div class="">This person is often the next in line to take on the office of the president should the president, for whatever reason cease to be the president. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> Secretary.</div><div class="">The Secretary is primarily in charge of recording and maintaining a written account of board meetings. This person may be responsible for generating any other written correspondence or documents as needed (think of them as the administrative assistant of sorts) and may chair meetings in the event that both the president and vice president are unable to chair a meeting.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> treasurer</div><div class="">The Treasurer is responsible for the finances of the division. their basic job is to make sure that money the division is supposed to receive is received and is properly deposited into the divisions treasury.</div><div class="">They are also responsible for seeing that money that is supposed to leave the treasury goes to the correct places at the correct times, and generally make sure that the correct balance is kept on record at all times.</div><div class=""> Generally, National Divisions don’t spend as much money as chapters or affiliates over the course of the year, so their job is not as labor intensive as others, but an attention to detail, responsibility and consistency are huge asset here. </div><div class="">This person will have access to the division’s checkbook, so they need to be organized enough to keep personal finances separate from division finances.</div><div class=""> </div><div class="">This person *may* be responsible for heading up the division’s fundraising efforts. It is also important to note that this person will work with the president to make sure things run well, so they will not be left completely alone to fend for themselves(it isn’t as bad as you are probably thinking it is).</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Board Member</div><div class="">The Board Member position has a less defined role, but their leadership, contributions, and participation is just as important as that of the constitutional officers.. </div><div class="">They, like constitutional officers, have a responsibility to attend meetings, support the work of the division, and take responsibility for projects, even if one might not be specifically assigned to them.</div><div class="">At the end of the day,we are talking about people who have a passion for community service, and want to use the power of community service to lift out blind people and the federation, to show that blind people are normal human beings capable of helping others, and the blindness doesn’t define our ability to do this.</div><div class=""> a person who believes in these things will find that the jobs themselves are not neurosurgery, but simply require effort. It’s not about holding a title, it’s about making a difference.</div><div class=""> . . . </div><div class=""> </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> I also want to make very clear that a person can be an active member of the division,take a leadership role in the division and not be an elected leader to do so. </div><div class="">The truth is, that these people are at least just as important as those holding elected leadership positions, in fact a number of these off board leaders often make important contributions to the work of the division all year round.</div><div class=""> If you are an individual that just wants to help and might not be interested in elections,please don’t hesitate to be in touch, as we can always use some extra hands here and there during convention. </div><div class=""> </div><div class=""> If you are interested in running for an elected position on the division board, and would like further information regarding the division, or specific responsibilities of each role, please feel free to contact me regarding your interest, and I’ll be glad to try to answer whatever questions you might have as best I can.</div><div class=""> My contact information is included in my signature below.</div><div class=""> Thank you for reading.</div><div class=""> Let’s Get Involved!</div><div class="">, Let’s Go Build The Federation! </div><div class=""> Darian </div><br class=""><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); 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; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Darian Smith</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">President, National Federation of the Blind Community Service Division</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Web: <a href="http://www.nfbcommunityservice.org" class="">www.nfbcommunityservice.org</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Twitter: @NFB_CSD,@goldengateace</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/CommunityServiceDivision" class="">www.facebook.com/CommunityServiceDivision</a>"</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; color: rgb(71, 135, 255); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><span style="text-decoration: underline;" class="">E-mail: <a href="mailto:president@nfbcommunityservice.org" class="">president@nfbcommunityservice.org</a></span></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""> </p><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">(415)215-9809</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><span style="font-size: 16px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class=""> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">blindness is not what holds you back.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""> “We need your service, right now, at this moment - our moment - in history. I'm not going to tell you what your role should be; that's for you to discover. But I am going to ask you to play your part; ask you to stand up; ask you to put your foot firmly into the current of history” — Barack Obama </div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""> Help drive change for the blind .</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Donate your car to the National Federation of the Blind today!</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; color: rgb(87, 86, 214); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(87, 86, 214);" class="">For more information, please visit: <a href="http://www.carshelpingtheblind.org/" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(71, 135, 255);" class="">www.carshelpingtheblind.org</span></a> or call 1-855-659-9314</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; font-family: Times; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">“</div></div></div>
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