[Ct-nfb] Mark A. Riccobono's presidential notebook

Gary Allen garyallenct at gmail.com
Mon Nov 21 21:09:45 UTC 2016


President’s Notebook
National Federation of the Blind
Mark A. Riccobono
officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
(410) 659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,



Thank you to all of you who attended our call last Wednesday and an extra
nod to the handful who gave feedback after the call. You will find the
follow-up materials referenced below.



This starts the Thanksgiving week, and it is always a time of reflection
and family. I appreciate the many dedicated hours each of you puts into our
organization. I know that there are many tasks that an effective affiliate
president undertakes that go unnoticed. I also know that the joy of our
work and the opportunity to work together makes it all worth it. I am
thankful to each and every one of you for the leadership you provide and
the sacrifices you make. I am also keenly aware that our families are an
important part of making it possible. Thus, I hope each of you has an
opportunity to enjoy some family time this week. For my part, I have filled
out the shopping list, gathered my Braille recipes, secured the turkey and
the wood for smoking it, and have planned the fun activities the Riccobonos
will enjoy together this week. I do plan to be in the office until
Wednesday at noon, so please reach out if you need anything. After that I
hope to have a few days off the grid before a busy close to the year.



Thank you for all you do and for your friendship.

Critical Actions This Week:
Giving Tuesday:
#GivingTuesday is right around the corner. Entering its fifth year,
#GivingTuesday is a global initiative for philanthropic activity. People
all over the world give through social media on the day after Cyber Monday.
You can all influence others. Please mark your calendars for November 29,
2016. Let’s see if we can make this our biggest #GivingTuesday ever. We are
asking you to donate and to share, retweet, and paste our “asks” on your
social media. We are using #NFBdonate2016 as our hashtag. Our social media
campaign for #GivingTuesday will direct people to our donation page through
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For more information, please read our
Voice of the Nation’s Blind blog post on giving options<
https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/it-starts-me-fundraising-national-federation-blind
>.

News:
Branding Call:
In case you missed the conference call last Wednesday night, the recording
of the call can be accessed by clicking “State Presidents Branding Call<
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t8k1sbyq5bu39td/StatePresidentsBrandingCall.wav?dl=0>.”
The role-play audio is available by visiting “Brand Refresher Role Play<
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7cm6t0z2wdqs8jh/brand%20refresher%20training%20audio%20role%20play.mp3?dl=0>.”
The summary document from the call is attached to this message.

Scholarship Updates:
There are a number of documents attached to this email that you might find
helpful in our effort to promote the scholarship program. If you have
questions, please contact Patti Chang at pchang at nfb.org<mailto:
pchang at nfb.org> or (410) 659-9314, extension 2422.

2017 Washington Seminar Student Funding Application:
The National Association of Blind Students is offering to assist students
that want to attend Washington Seminar but that don't have the financial
resources to do so. With a goal of bringing as many students as possible to
Washington, DC, in January, the program will supplement other funding
sources (e.g., local chapters, affiliates, personal finances) to cover the
costs of attending. Please refer students to the link below:
https://docs.google.com/a/wfu.edu/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5Y8yw5JW1jjFJ1bBo22pIi-u1mf97i4lQNYCQONiiR9490g/viewform?c=0&w=1
<
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_a_wfu.edu_forms_d_e_1FAIpQLSf5Y8yw5JW1jjFJ1bBo22pIi-2Du1mf97i4lQNYCQONiiR9490g_viewform-3Fc-3D0-26w-3D1&d=CwMFAg&c=AGbYxfJbXK67KfXyGqyv2Ejiz41FqQuZFk4A-1IxfAU&r=5dCABYJ5CxvQOBhyYB2Rbvx93pYuHZ0o8bUuY2oCLno&m=Hq7EAQFWpGdbZB-DHDatKaVH8N7UTHE0eWNDwPADPiM&s=VWbV3BTvizZbUzq1xwyVQNkSE8rT-q2HfiIL-aIqtCo&e=
>

Braille Letters from Santa:
Between November 14 and December 16, parents of young children under the
age of ten can visit https://nfb.org/santa-letters and fill out the Santa
Braille letter request form<https://nfb.org/santa-letters>. The form can
also be printed and faxed to (410) 685-2340. Beginning November 28, the
Braille letters from Santa will start going out to blind boys and girls
across the country.

KNFB Reader Sale:
Attention!  Attention!  Starting November 24, get KNFB Reader for the
lowest price of 2016: only $64.99, 35 percent off the regular price. It
makes the perfect gift for the upcoming holiday season. Please share this
opportunity with your family, friends, and co-workers. For information on
giving KNFB Reader as a gift, visit www.nfb.org/KNFBReader#GIFT<
http://www.nfb.org/KNFBReader#GIFT>.

Spanish Release:
The Spanish version of the November Presidential Release is now available
at https://nfb.org/images/nfb/audio/pr/spanish/pr_455_spanish.mp3.



Reminders:
Voter Survey:
Last chance! Now that you have exercised your fundamental right to vote,
please complete our 2016 Blind and Low-Vision Voter Experience Survey. If
you cast your ballot at an early voting center, your local polling place on
Election Day, or by absentee ballot that you received by regular mail,
please complete the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JJ5N38X. If
you used a personal computer or tablet to mark your ballot, please complete
the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JM9CMY6.



Dates to Keep in Mind:

·        December 2, 2016: Deadline for application for NABS funding<
https://docs.google.com/a/wfu.edu/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5Y8yw5JW1jjFJ1bBo22pIi-u1mf97i4lQNYCQONiiR9490g/viewform?c=0&w=1>
to Washington Seminar

·        December 16, 2016: Deadline for Braille letters from Santa
requests<https://nfb.org/santa-letters>

·        January 30, 2017: Great Gathering-In

·        January 30-February 2, 2017: Washington Seminar<
https://nfb.org/washington-seminar>

·        March 30-31, 2017: Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium

·        March 31, 2017: Deadline for scholarship applications<
http://www.nfb.org/scholarships>

·        April 15, 2017: Deadline for Jacob Bolotin Award applications<
https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main>

·        July 21-29, 2017: Youth Slam, Towson University

·        September 12-17, 2017: BLAST, Nashville, Tennessee

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. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.


Mark A. Riccobono
President
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 659-9314 | officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:
officeofthepresident at nfb.org>


[National Federation of the Blind]<https://nfb.org/>

                        [Facebook] <
http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>     [Twitter] <
https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice>     [Youtube] <
https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind>

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we
work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
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