[MD-AtLarge] Minutes and next meeting

[nfbmd]

Hello all,

 

Remember, the next meeting of the At-Large chapter will take place Tuesday,
August 18.  The National President's message starts at 7:30, and the meeting
begins at 8:00pm.  The conference call number is 641-715-3272.  

The access code is 720125.  The minutes are below.

 

Sharon Maneki, President

National Federation of the Blind of Maryland

410-715-9596

 

 

Minutes for the At large chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of
Maryland

Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2015

 

The meeting was called to order at 8:00 P.M. via conference call by
Marguerite Woods. There were between 15 and 20 people on the call. Everyone
introduced themselves and told where they were from.

 

Dezman Jackson was one of the national scholarship winners recognized at
this year's national convention, and he talked to us about his experience.
He said he appreciated getting to spend time with different mentors and also
enjoyed the camaraderie with the other winners. He also talked about the
process of applying for the scholarship and said getting all the required
documents together was the toughest part. Dezman is doing an online program
to get a master's degree in public health which will be his second master's
degree. He would like to do something related to health policy. National
scholarships range from $3000 to $12000, and those applying for them must be
fulltime students. Applications are accepted from November through the end
of March.

 

We were also joined on the call by one of the state scholarship winners from
Maryland, Waqas Sheikh, who told us about his experience winning the
scholarship. He said he has enjoyed getting to network and meet other
successful people in his field. He is working toward a master's degree in
social work and will be completing an internship at a senior center this
fall in New York where he is attending college. He said he has been
volunteering at a veteran's hospital for 10 years and would like to continue
work with that population.

 

Judy reminded us of some of the events coming up, such as the crab feast on
August 7, which help to raise money to pay for things such as scholarships. 

 

We discussed the BELL programs coming up in the next few weeks. BELL stands
for Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning. There are programs in 3
locations (the Eastern Shore, Baltimore, and Glendale) which will involve
around 20 children ranging in age from 4 to 12. They will work on Braille
reading and writing, as well as go on field trips and participate in other
activities. The cost for the BELL programs is approximately $10,000 each
year so it is another important initiative that money from fundraisers
benefits.

 

Those that attended national convention spoke about the highlights for them.
Many said they enjoyed getting to meet and talk with so many new people,
including people from our conference calls. Other highlights included the
banquet address, the music jam session, hearing inspirational stories and
the goals of others, and breaking the world record for number of people
holding umbrellas. It was explained that the idea behind going for this
particular world record was to relate raising the umbrellas to raising
expectations for the blind. Sandra told us about independently traveling to
a water park, which was something she had never done before, and Anthony
talked about getting to introduce his children to blind children their age
and to those he received training from. It was also announced that Maryland
was the state with the highest attendance. 

 

We had a discussion about going on vacations and many people shared
experiences and advice. Marla told us that she has done many kinds of
traveling including a 2-week trip of Europe. She said she prefers cruises
because they are safe, everything you would want is available, and there are
always crew members to help with anything. Marguerite, who has also gone on
cruises, agreed with this and also pointed out that going on trips with low
vision is very different than going on them while blind. She said it is
still doable and just takes different planning and doing things differently.
She also discussed how things we might want to do while traveling might make
sighted people nervous if they are not used to seeing blind people do
things, but once they see what you can do they relax. She said it is also
good to be comfortable with what you are doing to help others be comfortable
with it too. Judy talked about going to the beach and said her and her
husband try to find a family that plans to be there for a while who can
watch for them when they come out of the water and help them get back to
where they left their belongings on the beach.

 

The meeting ended at 9:00 P.M.

 

Submitted by Danielle Shives

 

 

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