[Greater-baltimore] This week's Minute Messages From the Movement!

Melissa Ann Riccobono melissa at riccobono.us
Wed Mar 12 20:08:05 UTC 2014


National Federation of the Blind of Maryland

Minute Messages from the Movement 

Melissa Riccobono, President

President at nfbmd.org

Phone number 410-235-3073

www.nfbmd.org

Follow us on Twitter @NFBMD

Like us on Facebook

 

Note from the President

 

Thank you to all who provided such positive feedback regarding these One
Minute Messages! Please keep your comments and ideas for content coming!
Also, thank you to Mark Riccobono for helping with the template for these
messages. It certainly makes my job easier!

I have several things to report this week. In the future, I will try to make
these messages a bit shorter, but I believe all of this information is
extremely important, so please bear with me!

 

 

Messages

.         Delmarva election results: I am please to announce the results of
the Delmarva Chapter elections. President, Danielle Earl, vice president,
Patti Atkins, Secretary, Selina Johnson, Tressurer, Muffin Copper, Board
Position 1, Arthur Copper (Husband), Board Position 2, Frances Walls.
Congratulations to all of those reelected, and elected for the first time.
Also, thank you for such a warm, inviting, and energetic chapter meeting.
The Delmarva Chapter is doing wonderful things, and I know this recently
elected board will continue the important work of this chapter.

.         Spring Raffle; have you purchased your tickets yet? Our spring
raffle is well underway. Thank you to all of those who have purchased
tickets, and those who are selling tickets. The demand has been great so far
this year. Please help us sell all 1000 tickets. For those who don't know,
here are the spring raffle details.

.         All tickets are $5 each.

.         Each ticket has a 3 digit number, which is good throughout the
entire month of May-so you have 31 chances to win!

.         If your number is drawn on a Sunday through a Friday, you will win
$50.

.         If your number is drawn on a Saturday, you will win $100.

.         Numbers may be drawn more than once.

.         If you sell 35 tickets, you will receive $50 either at the
National Convention, or in the month of July, as a thank you for your hard
work and dedication to our movement.

.         If you would like to purchase and/or sell tickets, please contact
me as soon as possible. Let's raise some money for the NFB of Maryland!

 

.         BIG BABY NEWS! This just in! Melissa Treaster, former president of
the Tricounty Chapter of the NFBMD, and her husband, James, joyfully
welcomed their son, Connor Treaster, yesterday evening, March 11. Connor
weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces, and was 20.1 inches long. He certainly took his
time before making an appearance, but all seems to be going well for
everyone. Aside from the fact that I don't believe any of the family has
gotten much sleep in the past few days. Congratulations to everyone in the
Treaster family!

.         Join Team NFBMD and Become an Imaginator!: As you may have heard
in the Presidential Release, Uncle Whozit is counting on you! The National
Federation of the Blind has a goal to raise $300000 for the Imagination Fund
by May 31, 2014. The Imagination Fund not only supports NFB Jernigan
Institute programs, it also helps fund special programs and projects in
state affiliates. Raising money for the Imagination Fund means finding other
peoples' money! If you want to support the NFB personally, please consider
joining the PAC Plan (More about the PAC Plan next week!) If you want to be
an Imaginator and raise money for the Imagination Fund as part of Team
NFBMD, , please reach out to your family, friends, business contacts, etc.
and tell them why the National Federation of the Blind is important to you.
Please ask them for a donation. 

.         How do they donate? People can make a donation to Team NFBMD by
visiting https://app.mobilecause.com/public/social/9716 As a member of Team
NFBMD, please feel free to visit this page yourself and use the links
provided to ask for donations from your Facebook friends and Twitter
followers. You can also send a customized email to your contacts directly
from this page and encourage them to donate. If you are asking someone for a
donation in person, you can have him or her text the word Maryland to 71777.
Or, donors can send a check made out to NFB with Imagination Fund Maryland
in the memo line to 200 East Wells St.; Baltimore, MD 21230. The NFBMD has a
goal to raise $7500 in commemoration of the upcoming 75th anniversary of the
national Federation of the Blind. This seems like a large number, but I know
we will be able to achieve this goal if we all participate as one team and
reach out to those we know to ask them for their help. (Please note: As of
now, the NFBMD page shows a picture of me and my family. It also currently
has text which is more personal to me. In the next few minutes, I will be
putting in a request to have the text changed, and I plan to take a picture
this Saturday which will be posted on our page. Please do not hesitate to
get the word out about our goal before these changes are made, but if you
feel more comfortable sending out a message after our page is completely up
to date, that is fine as well. I would guess the page should be completely
changed by Monday afternoon, March 17th.)

.         If you would like to have the NFB Jernigan Institute create a
personal Imaginator page for you, please send an email to
imaginationfund at nfb.org 

.         Cool Chemestry: On Wednesday, April 23, students from Notre 
Dame of Maryland University will be  conducting two chemistry activities for
blind elementary school students. These activities will take place at the
Jernigan Institute (200 East Wells Street; Baltimore) from 1-4 PM. Students
will work in very small groups to explore chemical reactions. There is no
cost for this event, but space is limited! If you would like to sign your
child up for this event, please get in touch with me so I can include him or
her on my list. This is a unique opportunity, and one I'm sure many children
would enjoy.

.         This from Marsha Dyer: To Federation members and friends who
receive the Braille Monitor and/or Future Reflections magazine: if any of
your contact information (address, telephone, email address, etc.) has
changed or is about to change, please send an email to
nfbpublications at nfb.org so that we may update your information in our main
mailing database.  This request applies especially to those of you who
receive either publication via email.  Thank you.

.         The following two items come from Mark Riccobono:

.          Did you know that one of our members from Missouri has started a
change.org
petition<http://www.change.org/petitions/association-of-home-applian> to
urge the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers to work in
collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind to get their
manufacturer members to incorporate accessibility features into their
products? Be sure to support and share this information.

.         Odin Mobile is a wireless provider dedicated to offering cellular
service to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The company
offers a variety of cellular phones, including the ODIN VI-a basic mobile
phone that is accessible to individuals who are blind.  This phone is a
great choice for people who just want to make calls, manage contacts,
text-message, and perform other basic tasks. 

Odin Mobile also sells the Nexus from Google, a top-of-the-line smartphone
which offers the latest in Android accessibility.  Anyone who purchases this
smartphone receives one-on-one tutorials, as well as special customer
support.  The tutorials and support are provided by an expert in Android,
who is also blind.    

 

With monthly airtime rates as low as $10 per month, Odin Mobile has plans to
fit various budgets and needs.  Customers also receive a free month of
service for every friend they refer to Odin Mobile. Perhaps best of all,
when a customer mentions that they are an NFB member, he or she will receive
a special 5 percent discount on Odin Mobile talk and text plans.  The NFB
will receive a percentage of the revenue that Odin Mobile generates from NFB
members, so you help the NFB, as well. 

Be sure to check out Odin Mobile at www.odinmobile.com or call at
855-217-9459.  Also, you can follow Odin Mobile on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/odinmobilephones.

If you would like to speak with the general manager of Odin Mobile, he can
be reached at 301-363-4306

 

Coming Next Week:

.         Information on our next NFBMD Board meeting

.         Information on a Diabetes seminar sponsored by the Sligo Creek
Chapter and DORS

.         A recap of Basket Bingo

.         What is the NFB PAC Plan?

.         Links to audio and Word versions of the presidential report from
state convention; sorry, I couldn't make this happen this week!

.         Information on NFB of Maryland email listserves

 

Dates  to Remember

.         March 14, 2014: Basket Bingo
<http://www.nfbmd.org/events/basket_bingo2014.html>  (Hope to see you
there!)

.         March 15: Maryland Parents of Blind Children annual breakfast and
bake auction; 200 East Wells Street, 9-12

.         April 5: NFBMD Board Meeting, 10-1 (Columbia, Maryland)

.         April 23: Cool Chemestry for blind elementary school students; 200
East Wells Street, 1-4 PM.

.         April 24-25, 2014: 2014 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium,
"Disability Rights in the 21st Century: Creative Solutions for Achieving the
Right to Live in the World"

.         June 4: Diabetes Seminar (More details next week!)

.         June 8, 2014: TENTATIVE--NFB 6 Dot Dash-A 6K Race to Advance
Braille Literacy (Baltimore, Maryland)

.         July 1-6, 2014: NFB National Convention (Orlando, Florida)
<http://www.nfb.org/national-convention> 

.         July 28-August 8: National Federation of the Blind Braille
Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) Programs; More details coming
soon!

.         August 1, 2014: 7:00 PM NFBMD Crab Feast (Baltimore, Maryland)

.         September 9: Web Accessibility Day at NFB Jernigan Institute
<http://nfb.org/web-accessibility-day> 

.         October 15-17: NFB Technology Train the Trainers
<http://www.NFB.org/training-the-trainers> 

.         November 14-16, 2014: NFB of Maryland Annual Convention (Towson,
Maryland)

 

Please consider making a donation <http://www.nfbmd.org/donate.html>  today
to help us build a future full of opportunities. You can also donate your
vehicle <http://www.carshelpingtheblind.org>  or support us by giving your
old household goods to our GreenDrop program <http://www.nfbpickup.org> .

 

To submit items for possible inclusion in this weekly email, please send
suggestions to President at nfbmd.org  Be sure to include any related URLs that
might provide further information.

 




More information about the Greater-Baltimore mailing list