[Mn-at-large] Fwd: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 05/ 8/2017

Tue May 9 02:27:40 UTC 2017

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>President's Notebook
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>National Federation of the Blind
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>Mark A. Riccobono
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><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
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>(410) 659-9314
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>Dear Fellow Federationists,
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>This week will bring us to the two-month mark in 
>the countdown to our 2017 National Convention. 
>As you can imagine, all energy and time at the 
>national office is now focused on pulling the 
>logistical details together for our best 
>convention ever. I have heard about some great 
>plans in our affiliates for bringing new people 
>to the convention. Keep building and do not forget to urge preregistration.
>
>There are a number of important things to pay 
>attention to this week. Top of mind is the 
>launch of our monitoring of our Uber and Lyft 
>agreements. Please make sure your affiliate is 
>activating on the kick off of our testing that 
>will be in place for three years.
>Please also give immediate attention to the 
>fly-in (described in Critical Actions) being 
>hosted by our blind merchants and determine if 
>there is anything your affiliate can do to help.
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>And Happy Mother's Day to all the Federation mothers!
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>Critical Actions This Week:
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>There is a National Federation of the Blind 
>Fly-In in Washington, DC, on May 23, organized 
>by the National Association of Blind Merchants, 
>a Division of the NFB. The purpose is to target 
>key congressional committee members. It is not 
>essential that every state is represented. The 
>committee members we are targeting are the 
>states listed at the end of this article, so it 
>is most critical to have members from those states.
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>There are three issues we hope to address:
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>1.                The Department of Defense's 
>effort to promulgate rules that will effectively 
>eliminate the Randolph-Sheppard priority for military dining contracts.
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>2.                HR 1990 that would 
>commercialize interstate rest areas displacing 
>almost four hundred blind entrepreneurs who now 
>service vending machines at the rest areas.
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>3.                The Veterans Administration's 
>refusal to recognize the Randolph-Sheppard priority at many VA facilities.
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>Please contact and coordinate with Nicky Gacos, 
>who is our merchants division president, if 
>someone from your state wants to attend. He can 
>be reached at 
><mailto:nickycolorado at netscape.net>nickycolorado at netscape.net 
>or (908) 464-5359.
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>The states we are targeting are Rhode Island, 
>Mississippi, Nebraska, Arkansas, South Dakota, 
>Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
>Washington, Minnesota, Kansas, Nevada, New 
>Mexico, Utah, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
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>Delegate and Board Member Convention Expenses:
>You should have seen an email last week 
>describing the reimbursement policies and 
>procedures as they relate to national 
>convention. If you did not receive it, please 
>notify Beth at <mailto:bbraun at nfb.org>bbraun at nfb.org.
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>News:
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>Convention Fundraising Announcements:
>Convention is right around the corner, and with 
>it come many fundraising announcements. In an 
>effort to make the information more readily 
>available to convention attendees and cut down 
>on the number of listserv emails during the busy 
>convention season, we've put together a 
><https://nfb.org/fundraising-announcement-form>fundraising 
>announcement form for affiliates and 
>national-level divisions. If you will be selling 
>candy, raffle tickets, or other items to benefit 
>the NFB at the convention and would like to let 
>folks know, fill out the form at 
><https://nfb.org/fundraising-announcement-form>nfb.org/fundraising-announcement-form. 
>All announcements will be posted at 
><https://nfb.org/national-fundraising-announcements>nfb.org/national-fundraising-announcements. 
>If you have any questions, please contact the 
>communications team at 
><mailto:communicationsteam at nfb.org>communicationsteam at nfb.org.
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>Rideshare Testing:
>As per their settlement agreements with the NFB, 
>both Uber and Lyft have agreed to implement new 
>driver training requirements and policies 
>regarding driversâ€™ obligations to transport 
>riders with service animals. On May 8, the NFB 
>begins its <https://nfb.org/rideshare>Rideshare 
>Testing Program to assess how successfully both 
>companies are implementing these changes. If you 
>use Lyft or Uber and have a service animal or 
>travel with someone who has a service animal, 
>your help with this testing process is critical. 
>Please see 
><https://nfb.org/rideshare>nfb.org/rideshare for 
>more information or contact Valerie Yingling at 
><mailto:vyingling at nfb.org>vyingling at nfb.org or (410) 659-9314, extension 2440.
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>NABS Mentorship Program:
>Applications are live for the 2017 NABS 
>Mentorship Program that will take place in 
>Orlando, Florida, during the 2017 NFB National 
>Convention. Those who apply to be either a 
>mentor or mentee must be in attendance at this 
>year's convention. You need not be a student to 
>apply for the mentor role, but we encourage only 
>students to consider the mentee position. 
>Applications close on June 15. Please direct 
>questions to Kathryn Webster at 
><mailto:nabs.president at gmail.com>nabs.president at gmail.com.
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>Senior Division Retreat:
>The National Federation of the Blind Senior 
>Division is organizing a retreat for October 
>8-14, 2017, at Rocky Bottom Retreat and 
>Conference Center. This is a rural setting, a 
>camp owned and operated by the South Carolina 
>affiliate of the NFB. The cost is $325 per 
>attendee, which covers room, board, training, 
>activities, and ground transportation from 
>Greensville to Rocky Bottom, but does not 
>include transportation to and from Greensville, 
>South Carolina, the nearest airport to the camp. 
>Eligible participants are legally blind seniors 
>ages fifty-five and older with a strong desire 
>to learn alternative, nonvisual techniques 
>taught by blind instructors, who are responsible 
>for taking all medications independently, and 
>who have the stamina to be actively engaged for five full days of activities.
>To apply, send a letter by August 1 requesting a 
>retreat application to the attention of:
>Mr. David Houck.
>119 South Killbourne Road
>Columbia, SC 29205
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>Convention:
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>Community Service Division:
>The National Federation of the Blind Community 
>Service Division will hold its annual seminar 
>and business meeting during the 2017 National 
>Convention on the evening of July 12.We are 
>looking for chapters and affiliates who are 
>doing community service activities, or have done 
>them within the past year or so, and would be 
>willing to share their story with their 
>Federation family. If you are interested in 
>communicating your experience in terms of what 
>your chapter or affiliate did; how blindness 
>didnâ€™t stop you from doing the activity; and 
>how it benefited the membership, the community, 
>and the federation; we would like to hear from 
>you. Please send an email to NFB Community 
>Service Division Vice President Dacia Cole at 
><mailto:dacia.luck at gmail.com>dacia.luck at gmail.com. 
>Please include "Community service story" and the 
>name of your chapter/affiliate (e.g., Chicago 
>Chapter or Illinois Affiliate) in the subject line.
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>Dates to Keep in Mind:
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>·        <http://nfb.org/state-conventions>Spring conventions
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>·        May 8, 2017: First day of NFB 
><https://nfb.org/rideshare>Rideshare Testing Program
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>·        May 29-August 18, 2017: 
><https://nfb.org/bell-academy>NFB BELL Academy 
>held at forty-seven sites throughout the nation
>·        June 4, 2017: <https://nfb.org/dot-dash>6K Dot Dash
>·        July 10-15, 2017: 
><https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm16/bm1611/bm161101.htm>National 
>Convention, Rosen Shingle Creek Resort, Orlando, Florida
>·        June 15, 2017: Deadline for NABS Mentorship Program applications
>·        July 23-29, 2017: 
><http://www.blindscience.org/nfb-youth-slam>Youth Slam, Towson University
>·        September 12-17, 2017: 
><http://blindmerchants.org/blast-2017/>BLAST, Nashville, Tennessee
>·        October 8-14, 2017: Senior Division 
>Retreat, Rocky Bottom Retreat and Conference Center
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>The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
>blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
>you or your future. Every day we raise the 
>expectations of blind people, because low 
>expectations create obstacles between blind 
>people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
>want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>Mark A. Riccobono
>President
>200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
>(410) 659-9314 | 
><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
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>
><https://nfb.org/>
>National Federation of the Blind
>
>
> 
><http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>
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>
>
>The National Federation of the Blind is a 
>community of members and friends who believe in 
>the hopes and dreams of the nationâ€™s blind. 
>Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
>
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