[Massachusetts-NFB] At-Large Chapter April Meeting Minutes

[Liz Lesperance]

Good Morning,

Pasted below and attached please find the minutes from our most recent
at-large chapter meeting held on Tuesday the 11th.

Have a nice day!

Best,
Liz

**********

The at-large chapter held their most recent monthly meeting on Tuesday,
April 11th. Those in attendance included:

Brian Langlois

Christopher Suplice

Cullen Gallagher

Debbie Malone

ElizabethAnn Johnson

Evan Hershowitz

Kahmile Whitby

Kobena Bonney

Liz Lesperance

Mike Karsok

Nina Kagan

Rachel Kobierecki

Sandra Burgess

Shara Winton

Debbie called the meeting to order at 7:05PM.

ElizabethAnn recited the NFB pledge.

Liz conducted a roll call.

Brian put forth a motion to adopt and file the March meeting minutes which
Cullen seconded. The minutes were approved.

Sandy went over the treasurer's report. The current balance is $1613.63.
This includes the $100 deduction for door prizes at the state convention.
Cullen moved that the treasurer's report be accepted which Brian seconded.
The treasurer's report was approved.

Cullen went over highlights from the April presidential report which
included:

§  the national convention is 3 months away and will include a free virtual
experience. Details can be found at:

nfb.org/convention

This is where you can find the link to register.

§  last month the NFB sent a letter to both the House and Senate
appropriations committee regarding increasing funds for the Independent
Living Services for the Blind program (a.k.a. IL-O.I.B.).

§  the NFB also sent a letter to the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission regarding discriminatory practices of requiring a driver's
license on a job application when driving is not a core function of the
position.

§  in late July Dan O'Rourke, an NHL on-ice official, will participate in a
2,400-mile bike ride for literacy to support the NFB's core value of
literacy. The goal of the ride is not only to raise funds for the NFB but
also to spread awareness of the capacity of blind people.

We discussed various ways of listening to the presidential release live
including via the Amazon Echo as well as YouTube

We then had a discussion over when requesting or requiring a driver's
license on an application is appropriate versus discriminatory. It was
noted that many organizations use the term "driver's license" when in fact
they are only seeking a form of identification. We resolved that requiring
a driver's license is reasonable when driving is a core job function;
however, blind and visually impaired individuals should not be precluded
from jobs where driving is an occasional job requirement as there are ways
of fulfilling this task without holding a driver's license.

Debbie reminded us that the national convention is rapidly approaching and
to make hotel and travel reservations asap.

Shara reminded us that the Kenneth Jernigan scholarship deadline is
Saturday. This scholarship provides financial assistance to individuals
attending their first national convention. Please note that you can qualify
for this scholarship even if you have only attended the national convention
virtually.

The scholarship details and application can be found at the following link:

https://nfb.org/form/kenneth-jernigan-convention-scho



Our chapter is planning to hold another Double Good popcorn fundraiser next
month. We agreed to hold the 4-day event from May 3rd through the 6th.

Debbie is reaching out to presidents of other at-large chapters throughout
the country to see if they would be interested in speaking with us about
their chapter. We are seeking suggestions for other speakers at future
meetings. Please email any suggestions to Liz. Her email address is
liz.karsok at gmail.com

We held a lively discussion regarding Ever Lee Hairston's book "Blind
Ambition" and encourage all members to read this fascinating autobiography.

We discussed moving our meetings to the second Tuesday of the month to
increase attendance.  Shara put forth the motion which Cullen seconded. The
motion was approved.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday May 9th at 7:00PM.

The meeting adjourned at 8:46PM.
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