[IL-Talk] Draft Stand-by Minutes of Chicago Chapter December 11 meeting

[davant1958 at gmail.com]

Hello all,

Below are stand-by minutes of the December 11 Chicago chapter minutes. In
all of the confusion, the recording was not started. We have recreated them
from memory and reports given by various contributors. Please review them
and let me know if there is something incorrect or left out.

Thank you.

 

Minutes of December 11, 2021 Chicago Chapter Meeting

The meeting was called to order at 12:07 Pm by Chicago chapter President,
Denise Avant. She reminded members to please keep their masks on except when
drinking or eating. She also reminded people about the chapter auction
immediately following the hybrid chapter meeting. Those who were on Zoom
were welcome to participate in the auction as well.

The following people were present in person for the meeting:

Mary Grunwald, Bill Reif, Marco Giannotti, Ed Birmingham, Giovanni Francese,
Donnie Anderson, Marilyn Green, Ken Borst, Ken Schad, Eileen Truschke,
Debbie Stein, Denise Avant, Pam Gillmore, Ellen Bartelt, Sara Luna, Gary
Jones, Dustin Cather, Steve Hastalis, and Jemal Powell. Jemal told the
members of recent illnesses in his family, his aunt and dad.

Zoom attendees were Patti Chang, Katrina Hanson, David Meyer, Glenn Moore
and Gina Falvo.

 

On his Presidential Release, President Mark Riccobono wished everyone a
happy holidays and announced a drawing for two festively decorated canes
which took place during the release. He reminded everyone to utilize
NFB-Newsline during the holidays as there are many publications like Better
Homes and Gardens that can provide holiday gift ideas and recipes as well as
ads by stores like Target and Walmart.

 

He then stated that the first big event the NFB will have in the new year is
the 2022 Washington Seminar which will kick off officially at 5:00 p.m.
eastern time on February 7th with our Great Gathering-In.  Due to COVID
there will be a two pronged approach with both a virtual and an in-person
delegation..

 

Next, he spoke about the importance of promoting the Access Technology
Affordability Act HHR-431. In the house and in the Senate it's S-212.
Currently we have 114 cosponsors in the House and 32 in the Senate and we
need to build more support to get this passed.

 

He also spoke on the Senate Bill S-3238, the Transformation to Competitive
Integrated Employment Act, introduced on November 18, 2021, by Senator Casey
of Pennsylvania. Momentum is needed for this bill and so we need to contact
our local senators to ensure that people with disabilities receive equal pay
for equal work. 

 

We recently celebrated the 81st anniversary of the NFB and so this year,
President Riccobono encouraged everyone to use the slogan "Forward" to both
learn from the past and move forward toward the future stronger. He then
invited the First Vice President, Pam Allen to speak and she wished everyone
a happy holidays and thanked everyone for their work in making the NFB a
transformative organization.

 

President Riccobono then gave an update on the PACT plan, which raised, for
the first time, over a half of a million dollars for the 2021 year. Many
state affiliates made special gifts and now is always a good time to give. 

 

Finally, he closed out with information on the NFB's Braille Letters to
Santa program where kids could send a letter to Santa in braille in either
Spanish or English and noted that the Braille Readers are Leaders Contest is
currently taking place and will end on January 21, 2022.

 

To listen or read the entire release you can visit the following website
<https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases>
https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases

President Marilyn Green gave the state presidential report. She thanked
everyone who attended the state convention. 

The dates for Washington Seminar 2022 are February 7-10. The Great
Gathering-In  is Monday, February 7. Illinois will send 4 people  to
Washington to handle the in-person meetings. The remaining people selected
will attend virtually. our national office recommended  the senator
appointments be scheduled virtually, as members throughout the state could
attend. Members may be contacted by Denise Avant or Dustin Cather regarding
their attendance at a virtual meeting, as they are scheduled.

Ellen reported that the Midwest student spring seminar will start on  March
18-20 at the Holiday Inn O'Hare.

Debbie Stein reported about our national and state scholarship programs. The
application period for both the state and national scholarship programs are
December 1 to March 31. You can't win if you don't apply. You can get more
information about our national scholarship program by going to
www.nfb.org/scholarship <http://www.nfb.org/scholarship>  and our state
scholarship program by going to nfbofillinois.org.  

National convention is scheduled for July 5-10 in New Orleans. You can begin
booking your room after January 1. Stay tuned for more information about our
national convention.

Steve Hastalis, Chicago chapter treasurer gave a quick summary of the
chapter's finances. We currently have a balance of $3370 in the bank. We
will soon have to make our third quarter PAC donation. We collected $200 in
donation during the meeting.

 

 

We next turned to the fundraising report. Dave thanked those who
participated in Beggars. The chapter received a  $178.93 from Beggars. There
were four donations, two at $50 another at $7 and the other at $10. Dave
mentioned that there were a number of gift cards for the auction. anyone
bidding on a gift card either live or on zoom would receive it either in
person or in the mail. Anyone who was on zoom and won a physical prize would
have to make arrangements with the donor of that prize. 

Denise explained that all items would have to be paid for before they could
be claimed. A person could either pay the affiliate through Zelle or pay
with check or cash, giving it to Steve Hastalis, the chapter treasurer. 

Dave mentioned  that Games night would follow the January meeting. Regarding
games night, he mentioned that reservations had to be in by the end of
January 3.

Finally, he mentioned that there would be a fundraising committee meeting to
take place on December 29 via zoom. He is using his Zoom account, and the id
is (708-606-7091 and the pass code is 7091. He will post a link on our
listserves.

Denise asked if people were still wanting to go forward with games night
given the rising Covid numbers. We will wear our masks and there is plenty
of room for social distancing. Judging by the number of people in person at
the auction, she assumes that we are going forward. No one said otherwise
and the plans for games night were confirmed.

Old Business

New Business

Ellen Bartelt mentioned that IABS was having a cooking demonstration put on
by Teresa Fabre. The date is December 28 and the cost is $30.

Denise mentioned that we would start the auction at 2:00 PM. Patti would
keep track of the items purchased. Michal Nowicki, affiliate treasurer will
keep track of Zelle payments and Steve Hastalis would keep track of cash and
checks for the items.

Adjourned

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:15 PM.

 

Respectfully Submitted 

Denise Avant

 

 

 

Denise Avant

1st Vice President

National Federation of the Blind of Illinois

For more information about NFBI,

Go to www.nfbofillinois.org