[Massachusetts-NFB] MAPBC September Meeting Minutes

[Liz Lesperance]

Good Morning,

Attached and pasted below please find the minutes from our most recent
parents' division meeting held last Thursday, Sept. 12th. Please join us
for our next meeting Thursday, Oct. 3rd at 6:00PM via zoom.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Best,
Liz

***********************************************************

The MAPBC met on Thursday, Sept. 12th. The meeting was called to order at
6:06PM. Those in attendance included:

Stephanie Valdes

Hai Nguyen Ly

Youme Nguyen Ly

Liz Lesperance

Jenn Bose

Stephanie recited the NFB pledge.

All meeting participants have had a chance to hear the September
presidential release

Hai moved to accept the August meeting minutes which Youme seconded. The
minutes were approved unanimously.

Tomorrow, Sept 13th, there will be a state convention planning meeting. The
hotel is planning to have braille added within the hotel by the time of the
convention in March. Shara is seeking ideas for speakers, presentations,
breakout sessions, etc. Please email Shara directly with any ideas.

Stephanie brought up the idea of holding our March meeting in person at the
convention. This will be an opportunity to include any new parents who are
in attendance or those interested in next year's BELL academy.

Regarding childcare, we decided it would be best to proactively book the
space in the hotel, so we have it available in the event childcare is
needed. That way, the room will be in place and we can spread the word.

Stephanie noted that elections for the division are every year so we should
also use the time meeting in person for the election.

Stephanie feels that by March she should have a date and location for the
next BELL academy. She would like to have more male volunteer’s next time.

Blind Equality Achievement Month is quickly approaching. In the Presidents
and Vice Presidents meeting held last Friday Shara had mentioned a voter’s
group out of Fitchburg that we could work with to conduct a voter
registration drive. We will plan this in greater detail in our next meeting.

Our parents’ division could greatly benefit from more members and increased
financial resources. Stephanie would like to combine outreach and
fundraising. One way to do this is to set up a booth at local festivals and
fairs. We can spread the word about our division while demonstrating the
lived experience and capabilities of blind parents and blind children. This
can be accomplished through games where people are asked to complete tasks
without using their vision. Stephanie will set up a folder in our shared
drive with a list of fairs/festivals and also fundraising ideas.

Going forward, we will be mindful of setting both a fundraising and
outreach goal for 2025.

The meeting adjourned at 7:11PM.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, Oct. 3rd at 6:00PM via zoom.
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