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

[Liz Lesperance]

Good Morning,

Attached and pasted below please find the meeting minutes from our recent
at-large chapter meeting held this past Tuesday. We will hold a brief
meeting on Tuesday, March 11th at 6:30PM in advance of the state convention.

 Have a wonderful day!

Best,
Liz

**********

The NFB of MA At-Large Chapter met on Tuesday, February 11th, 2025. The
meeting began at 6:31PM. Those in attendance included:

Cullen Gallagher

Shara Winton

Allen Larkin

Elizabeth Ann Johnson

Kristina Constant

Liz Lesperance

Shirley Doris

Debbie Malone

Ren Lovegood

Shannon Canton

Brian Langlois

Sandy Burgess



For this month's icebreaker, we named our favorite book.

Liz recited the NFB pledge.

Cullen put forth a motion to approve the January meeting minutes which was
seconded by Allen. The minutes were approved unanimously.

The treasurer's report has been tabled. Shara will talk to Kobena about the
status of opening a bank account for our chapter. Sandy will be the lead
name on the account and Debbie's name will be on the account as well.



Cullen played the abbreviated February presidential release. The release
can be heard at the following link:

https://nfb-presidential-release.podbean.com/e/presidential-release-546-february-2025/

Shara noted that the day after the presidential release President Trump
issued an executive order eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion
programs throughout the federal government. In response, the NFB has
prioritized continued funding for programs including NLS, free matter for
the blind, the vocational rehabilitation act, the older blind program, the
protection and advocacy program and Medicaid. At the state level, our
affiliate will participate in a "day on the hill" to advocate for
state-level legislation. This will be discussed further at the state
convention.



Shara presented the affiliate presidential report. There will be a bus
scheduled to transport members from the Boston area to the state convention
in Springfield and then back to Boston after the convention. The price will
be between $40-$45 roundtrip. The details are still being finalized. Those
who are only taking the bus one way are still asked to pay the full
roundtrip price. The bus will leave around 9:00am on Friday March 14th and
return to Boston around 4:00Pm on Sunday March 16th. Note, there will be a
tour of the basketball hall of fame that will take place before the bus
leaves on Sunday for those who are interested. The bus will wait for
everyone to get back from the tour before leaving.

Door prizes are needed for the convention. Carol Maurice is the door prize
coordinator. Our chapter discussed how we would like to contribute to the
door prizes. Cullen put forth a motion to donate $100 as a single amount
awarded as a door prize. Liz seconded the motion. The motion was approved
unanimously.

Please register for the convention if you have not yet done so.

There is also still time to submit a scholarship application.

If you have a resolution that you feel the state affiliate should
prioritize please contact Shara or Kyra.

Auction items are still being collected. Baked goods make especially great
auction items. Please give any items to Shara. Please include a brailed
description of the item. Our chapter would like to contribute to the
auction by either donating a pair of RayBan Meta smart glasses or donating
a gift card towards the purchase of these glasses. Cullen has reached out
to Jessica who is the manager at the Ray Ban store in Cambridge and is just
waiting to hear back on whether or not the store will be able to donate a
pair. The glasses don't come with a USB-C cable so Cullen will include this
either with the glasses or the gift card.



Ren Lovegood is a PhD student living in Stoughton who joined our meeting
for the first time tonight. Cullen put forth a motion to add Ren as a new
member to our chapter which Allen seconded. Ren was voted in unanimously.



In a future meeting we will be discussing our 2025 goals, fundraising, and
advocacy initiatives.



Kristina gave an update on the guide dog group. The guide dog group met on
Feb. 2nd and discussed how guide dog discrimination is a criminal offense
in Massachusetts but there is a very low fine associated. Al Elia will be
at the state convention as well as the next guide dog meeting to discuss
this issue in further detail.



We will meet briefly on Tuesday, March 11th at 6:30PM to iron out any final
details for the state convention which will be held later that week.



The meeting adjourned at 8:08PM
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