[Gabs] NFB of GA President's Update for June 2018

Tue Jun 19 00:03:32 UTC 2018

Dear Federationists and friends, 

As summer starts to heat up, I hope you and yours are enjoying the relaxed
pace that often comes with the season. In between preparing for summer
vacations, convention activities, or maybe just grilling out in the
backyard, I hope you will take a few minutes to catch up on what has been
going on in the National Federation of the Blind of Georgia. It has been a
few months since I last sent out an update and there is a lot of news to
share. Keep reading for some last-minute updates on National Convention,
info on our 2018 BELL Academy, exciting news about our 2018 State Convention
in October, and other happenings from the last few months. So, grab a nice
cool glass of sweet tea or your summer beverage of choice and enjoy this
update. For those of you using screen readers, you can use your screen
reader commands to navigate by heading to move to particular parts of this
update. 

Sincerely,

Greg Aikens

President, NFB of Georgia

NFB National Convention

The 2018 National Convention of the National Federation of the Blind begins
just over two weeks from now on July 3 and runs through July 8. For more
information about the convention, including the complete convention agenda,
visit the 2018 Convention page <https://nfb.org/convention> .          

I look forward to seeing those of you who will be at convention.         If
you need any assistance during convention, do not hesitate to call or text
me at (404) 444-8661. Dorothy Griffin will also be available at (770)
374-4832. 

The Georgia Caucus will be held on Thursday, July 5 from 5:00-6:00 PM in
Wekiwa 9. For those of you who have not attended the convention before, the
caucus is a time to get together with the entire delegation from Georgia. We
would love to see you there. It is also a time to discuss any resolutions of
interest or answer any general questions about convention. Please share this
info with anyone you know is attending convention from our state. 

The NFB of Georgia will be selling T-shirts and baseball caps in the exhibit
hall this year. Please sign up to help at our table by contacting Nata
Watkins (nwatkins at nfbga.org <mailto:nwatkins at nfbga.org> ). Also, The NFB
Independence Market is still looking for volunteers during convention. If
you are available to help, please contact Jen White at jwhite at nfb.org
<mailto:jwhite at nfb.org>  or by calling the National Office. At (410)
659-9314. 

Braille Enrichment for Learning and Literacy

         The 2018 BELL Academy starts today, June 18 and will run for the
next two weeks in Atlanta, GA. Eight elementary aged students will have the
opportunity to learn braille while having fun and connecting with blind
mentors. One of the excursions this year will be to the airport where the
students will have the opportunity to explore a Southwest airplane without
any other people in it. Thanks to Jackie Anderson for serving as our BELL
coordinator and her committee of volunteers for planning such an excellent
program. The BELL Committee members were Hayley Alli, Shelby Ball, Patrice
Lewis, Chelsie Page, Gaylon Tootle, Anna Trotman, and Nata Watkins. 

         New this year is our BELL-X program for students age 14-21. Four
high school students will participate this year in a paid work internship.
Students will gain work experience as they support the BELL Academy teachers
and volunteers over the next two weeks. In the evenings, students will stay
overnight in the dorms at Georgia State where they will plan their own
meals, make trips to the grocery store, and learn from blind mentors and
instructors through evening seminars. Thanks again to the BELL committee for
planning this program and to the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency
for making the paid internships possible. 

2018 NFB of Georgia State Convention in Albany

         In case you missed the announcement that went out last month, the
times and dates for our 2018 State Convention have been set. The convention
will be held from October 5-7, 2018 in Albany. Be watching your email this
week for more announcements about registering for the convention and making
your hotel reservations. I look forward to being with all of you again in
October!

         I need your help as we plan for convention this year. First, I need
your ideas for speakers during General Session and breakout sessions. I had
several individuals come up to me with good ideas for speakers after our
convention agenda was published last year, but of course, it was too late to
implement them. If you have ideas, share them with me now at
gaikens at nfbga.org <mailto:gaikens at nfbga.org>  or (404) 444-8661. 

Second, I need for you to help us pull off an amazing convention this year.
Debbie McDonald from our Southwest Georgia chapter is serving as the
convention committee chair this year and is looking for volunteers to help
with all aspects of convention. If you are interested in helping plan this
year's convention or in helping at convention, reach out to Debbie at
dmcdonald at nfbga.org <mailto:dmcdonald at nfbga.org> . 

Third, I need you to help us identify sponsors for convention this year.
Last year was the first time we looked for convention sponsors and we had
good success. We had seven sponsors for a total of $4000. I'm hoping that
with your help, we can double those numbers for our convention this year.
Every dollar raised in sponsorships is a dollar the affiliate can spend on
advocacy and programs, instead of spending it on the cost of convention.
Attached to this message are our convention flyer and our sponsor and
exhibitor letter. Please contact me with any questions or leads on sponsors
for this year's convention. 

Transition and Mentoring Program

         In April, 11 students from across the state participated in our
Spring Toward Success Transition Program for students age 14-21 in Decatur,
GA. Students learned about braille in the workplace, technology for travel,
Orientation and Mobility, riding public transit, and preparing for going to
work. Students were challenged to think differently as they engaged with
mentors in several blindness philosophy conversations and had excellent
questions about what it is like to be a blind adult. Students also had the
opportunity to ride the MARTA bus in to downtown Decatur, check out some of
the Bluetooth beacon technology from Foresight Augmented Reality, and enjoy
lunch at the Raging Burrito. Again, this event was a great success due to
the mentors and volunteers who made it happen. Thanks to Jo Ann Johnson,
Patrice Lewis, Jackie Anderson, Nata Watkins, Gaylon Tootle, Stancil Tootle,
Aracely Rosillo, Shirley Robinson, Geneva Ellingson, and Jessica Beecham for
making this event a success. 

         Jo Ann Johnson is coordinating our mentoring activities and is
currently seeking mentors and mentees. If you are interested in either,
please contact her at jjohnson at nfbga.org <mailto:jjohnson at nfbga.org>  or by
phone at (678) 451-3975. 

Website Updates

         Recently I have been asked by several chapter members or chapter
Presidents why their chapter's events are not announced on our web page. The
simple answer is that the information was not shared with our website
administrator so he could add it to the website. If you have updates about
events happening in your chapter, please have someone write up a brief
announcement or description and send it to Damashe Thomas at
dthomas at nfbga.org <mailto:dthomas at nfbga.org> . If you can save your
announcement as an attachment to your email instead of putting it in the
body of your message, that will save him time and get your announcement up
on the website faster. Also, if you notice that information is missing for
your chapter, please send that to Damashe as well. 

Legislative Update

         Many of you will remember that this year we were working to pass a
bill to protect the rights of blind parents in Georgia. The bill was
introduced into the Georgia House of Representatives as HB-891 by
Representative Carl Gilliyard after being approached by our Chatham County
chapter. WE had an excellent turnout on Blind Day at the Capitol, including
members from across the state. There were several new members from our
newest chapter in Augusta present as well. The bill did not make it out of
the House before crossover day this year. However, we held a press
conference on March 1 with Representative Gilliyard to raise awareness on
the issue. If you missed the video from that press conference, you can watch
it here <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLVYLNsIqb8&feature=youtu.be> .
HB-891 also received a hearing before a subcommittee of the House Judiciary
Committee to set it up for reintroduction next year. Thanks to everyone who
worked hard to show up at these meetings in support of the bill and those of
you who called your elected officials. We will be gearing up in the next few
months with this and other legislative issues, so keep an eye out. 

Affiliate Leadership Seminar

         Many of you may recall that in my last update, we were preparing
for an Affiliate Leadership Seminar immediately before Blind Day at the
Capitol. Over 40 leaders from across the affiliate were in attendance,
including representatives from every chapter and division. Leaders discussed
a wide range of topics, including expectations for our leaders, the NFB Code
of Conduct, ways leaders can contribute on an affiliate level, and the nuts
and bolts of running a chapter. We also spent a good amount of time tackling
our priorities of membership development, communication, legislation and
advocacy, and fundraising and forming committees around these topics.
President Riccobono sent Anil Lewis to help facilitate the training and it
was excellent to have him back with us in Georgia, even temporarily. We hope
to have more of these trainings in the future. If you are interested in
attending, please speak to your chapter President. 

Well, if you are still with me, I appreciate it. It is exciting to have so
much news to share about what we have been up to in Georgia. Please share
this update with anyone who would be interested. As always, if you have any
questions or ideas you want to share, I am always eager to hear them. 

Have a great summer! I look forward to seeing many of you in Orlando in two
weeks and to seeing many more of you in October. 

Let's go build the Federation!

Sincerely,

Greg Aikens, President

 <http://www.nfbga.org/> National Federation of the Blind of Georgia

Email:  <mailto:gaikens at nfbga.org> gaikens at nfbga.org

Cell: (404) 444-8661

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.

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