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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Hello all,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The access code is 720125. The minutes are below.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Sharon Maneki, </span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>President<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Federation of the Blind of Maryland<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>410-715-9596<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Minutes for the At large chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The meeting ended at 9:00 P.M.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Submitted by Danielle Shives<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>