[il-talk] Chicago chapter report sent on behalf of President David Meyer

[Denise Avant]

Hello all,

I am sending this report on behalf of Chicago chapter President, David Meyer. This past year, the Chicago chapter was very active in the areas of fund raising, programs and outreach. 
Our next chapter meeting will be on November 9, 2013. We will have a very special guest, Joanne Wilson from our national office to talk about the CARS donation program. We had someone from the Olive Harvey college come to our April meeting and talk about how cab drivers are trained. It was a great give and take between our members and the presenter on how best to assist people who are blind or visually impaired. As a result of this program, Debbie Pittman has been attending the monthly cab driver training to talk with the drivers about how to respect and handle people who need to use guide dogs. One of our most popular programs is called the medical corner, which is put on by long-time federationist, Pam Gillmore. This program came about as a result of Pam’s interactions  with the medical profession during her husband, Don’s illness. We are all happy to report that Don is doing better now, and was at State convention.
 We passed out literature at a health fare in April. One of our most successful outreach ventures is our Chicago chapter picnic which takes place at the Lincoln Park zoo in July. We have gotten many new members as a result of this outing, and we have reconnected and re-established relationships with some of our old members. Another successful venture has been the Chicago chapter games night. This event has been held at the Exchequer Restaurant for the past several years, and our attendance reached 34 this year. This is the highest attendance since we have been having the event at Exchequer. We were very glad to see many vendors from the Illinois Association of Blind Merchants turn out for this event.
We also had our Begger’s pizza outing in April. This is a favorite activity and fund raiser among Chicago federationist. Finally, in October, the chapter did a read-a-thon as part of our Meet The blind Month activity. Our initial goal was to raise $200.00. But as you know, we raised well over $700.00. Ken Staley, the candy king was responsible for over $400.  As of last week, we were in second place at the national level for money raised. 
The Chicago chapter meets the second Saturday of every month at Exchequer restaurant, 226 S. Wabash at 1 pm.
Respectfully Submitted 
Denise Avant, 1st Vice President

On behalf of 
David Meyer, Chicago chapter president

Denise Avant
dravant at ameritech.net

P.S.  Please give to the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois Annual
Appeal by sending your tax deductible donation to NFBI c/o Glenn Moore III,
Treasurer P.O. Box 1065 Elgin, IL 60121.