[New-hampshire-students] A look behind the NH affiliate scenes

[Marie Johnson]

Hello ladies and gents;
Ed has asked for an enlightenment of the duties that are performed so quietly and without notice, behind the scenes. so I would love to  give you all a glimpse of things as they are. I'm sincerely not being sarcastic here, this will be the most educational and important post that I could provide as President, to all of you as members of the affiliate and members at large. 
Since the Board meeting it has really dawned on me that the Presidency will never be able to be successfully passed on  without significant training in several areas.  I  hope this will give much food for thought for those of you that are contemplating taking a leadership role as an Executive officer this year, or in the future.

* President and Treasurer oversee all authorizations of expenses, in written form, banking and investment accts, fund-raising,    monthly reports to Nat'l, keeping track of and collecting dues from members at large and coordinating with Carol who is so awesome about  making sure that cards, appropriate  type baskets or   sunshine monies are purchased and sent immediately 
note; all written authorizations are a new mandate from Nat'l over the past year for every affiliate.  It has been a whole new learning process for all concerned, especially  in the recent transition of our new Treasurer
* President and Treasurer also handle the immense responsibilities of the financials in regards to the Childs magic shows, yearly tax forms and obligations, as well as state and local tax issues. Also, the signing and notarizing of yearly paperwork involving the Secretary of States office
* update and report yearly not only to Nat'l, but  the Secretary of States office, with the contact information for every member of all chapters and in general, of the affiliate
my other  Presidential duties include;
* keeping David B. and Donald in constant phone contact as they do not have the technology to stay apprised
* arranging board meetings, securing location and topics
* arranging state conventions regarding hotels, food, transport, location, working with entire membership to select programs for the day or days, when it was applicable and writing and posting agendas and assist in sending out all the invitations to those that would be a part of the day  
* requesting from Nat'l,   a rep for the state con 
* making all arrangements for Washington seminar, and Nat'l convention, hotel and transport
assuring that delegate gets Nat'l reimbursement, seeing as it has not been me to attend
* Newsline program coordinator,  marketing and promoting Newsline throughout the state, maintaining the administrative website and keeping all info current and relevant, working in conjunction with the talking book library to keep current all the subscriber info and applications, working with the Governor's commission to assure that the contract fees are kept paid, working with Scott from Nat'l whenever necessary to discuss problems and or telecommunication fees, and if that isn't enough... now featuring, working with other agencies to make all their inaccessible newsletters or articles of interest accessible and viable in order to post them to the states channel via telephone, which they would really like to see on the system
* Braille coin program coordinator, which has now ended in a sense, but there are still many coins that can be purchased through Nat'l and it is still important to  get them out there to   as many people as possible
* Braille literacy program coordinator, an on going project for the present and future need to bring Braille awareness to the forefront of all of our communities
Pass out Braille literacy information, have Braille events, reach parents of blind kids to excite them about the need for their children to learn Braille, things of that kind. 
* coordinator for the yearly Imagination Fund  fund-raising projects, which in turn award the affiliates with yearly grants
* coordinator for other affiliate action programs developed by Nat'l, that no one else agrees to do
note; all coordinator positions required that the person attended any and all phone conferences and trys  to motivate the affiliate
* Nat'l scholarship interviews and letters to committee for applicants.  this is particularly critical as Nat'l only gives out 30 scholarships out of about 450 and depend on the Presidents to interview and make absolute honest referrals. I have a letter that I will be posting soon from the committee as an example, to show you all the importance of this responsibility as well
* white cane monthly reports, contacts all recipients of free white canes, whether they are in theNFB  or not, to assess their situation and see if they are interested in joining, or how we can ve of value to them in the way of mentoring, support,  yadi, yadi 
* main contact for affiliate, handles all calls from persons of interest and or solicitors
* picks up quilts, other raffle prizes, donation of equipment to be given to those in need, etc, and makes sure they get to their new owners. 
note, could not possibly be accomplished without the essential transportation provided by Julie 
additional note; I have seriously failed to make the affiliate aware lately of the donated equipment that has come in and already been distributed. Sorry bout that. Gil also made a huge donation of a brand new color CCTV unit that we were absolutely thrilled and excited to provide immediately  to an 8 year old  blind girl at Christmas. The reason I am mentioning it now, is because the appreciation of the father and grandfather of the recipient  were overwhelmingly tearful  and their gratitude could in no way ever be expressed. This little girl has for the first time in her life, been able to see some things because of the generosity of another.  
and I am truly sorry that we did not share that with all of you  at the time. (I guess we just did it and went on to normal affairs because that is what we normally do.
* writes all begging letters and sends them out electronically and some by snail mail. Also writes all thank you notes, although I have slipped greatly recently in this area and then I offer electronic copies of such things to anyone that wants to use them as templates

* Ed and Gil's chapters, that do   presentations to health fairs, Lions clubs, and fund-raising events such as the notable Littleton magic show every year to help keep their chapters afloat and assist their members in financial ways 
*   Youth slam coordinator, handled by Wayne. 
Wayne graciously gives of his time and efforts each year to go to Nat'l and participate in all the youth programs and brings back what he has learned to apply it to our own youth
* student division seminars at Nat'l, handled by Stephen in the past. Not sure who will resume that responsibility now that he has graduated. Stephen also graciously offered his time and efforts each year to fulfill this obligation particularly fulfilling one of the essential duties that he saw as part of his Presidency of the student division
* state scholarship process, handled by Jim and Judy in recent years, and now Sandy will assume duties
requires the contacting of schools, agencies, others that are involved with seeking grants for education. Receiving transcripts and picking the 2 best applicants, if there are indeed 2 or more, which there had been in  past years. Jim and Judy's commitment to choosing the best was also a key element and not an easy task 
note again; as we talked on Saturday, this is also a critical part of what we do for the future of our blind and visually impaired youth
* and last, but certainly not the  very least, all the tremendous work done by our NFB moderator David Andrews, who keeps our important msg's and yes, even our dirty laundry humming along without any problems!
I would never, ever, be able to oversee our  many NH lists. So...kudos to you David!!
Believe it or not I may have forgotten a couple of things but if they come to mind, I will post again.

Oh wait, I cannot possibly close this off until I say that if I have forgotten to recognize anyone for their most valuable participation, then I hereby offer my sincere and humble apologies. 
This actually was only meant to be a draft for your general knowledge but I guess you all know me and my ways!!

I again want to extend our thanks too, to Dr. Schroeder for taking his valuable time to fly all the way to NH to offerhis expertise and assistance. 


So... who wants to move on up into the seat of the President?

Marie