[New-york-news] February President's Message

Thu Feb 15 19:48:36 UTC 2018

February 2018

Greetings

As promised, here is the February New York State President's message.  Look
for these announcements about the second week of each month as I feel it is
VERY important to keep everyone in the New York State Affiliate up to date
with what's happening in your affiliate.

Since November, I've been working hard to establish administrative
procedures and strengthen our chapters, divisions, and groups. I value the
input of the membership and encourage you to share your thoughts with me.
You can email me at  <mailto:president at nfbny.org> president at nfbny.org or
call me at 716-222-36323.  This is YOUR organization and I encourage you to
make your voice heard. 

We recently returned from the Washington Seminar.  Approximately 600 loyal
Federationists came together to educate our Representatives on issues of
importance to the blind of the nation.  We discussed the Accessible
Instructional Materials in Higher Education (Aim High) Act, The Access
Technology Affordability Act (ATAA), The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate
Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or
Otherwise Print Disabled.  Also we voiced our Opposition to the "ADA
Education and Reform Act of 2017" (H.R. 620)  Unfortunately, despite our
best efforts, On February 15, 2018 HR 620 passed with a vote of 225 to 192.
There is no senate bill and I hope there never is.  We'll take whatever
action is necessary to secure our rights.

Our New York State Albany Seminar is fast approaching.  This will be held on
Sunday March 4th to Tuesday March 6th, 2018.  We will be staying at the
Radisson Hotel, Albany located at 205 Wolf Road.  The first event is a
banquet-style dinner meeting starting at 6:00 pm.    The cost of the dinner
will be $30/each night and the menu choices and issues will be announced
shortly.  If you are interested, please let me know as soon as possible so
we can start planning.  If you have ever considered helping with educating
our Assembly people and state Senators, this would be your opportunity.  The
Albany Seminar is a great experience and a key part of what your NFB does.
Please let me (Mike  <mailto:president at nfbny.org> president at nfbny.org) or
the affiliate office ( <mailto:office at nfbny.org> office at nfbny.org) know if
you are planning to attend and also what your meal choices are.  Funding
requests are due by February 16th and the form can be found at
<http://nfbny.org/funding-request> http://nfbny.org/funding-request.

The NFB National Scholarship Committee is accepting applications for
scholarships. Visit  <https://nfb.org/scholarships>
https://nfb.org/scholarships and also share this link with anyone who may be
interested in applying for these scholarships.  Help publicize this program
so we can reach all blind graduating high school seniors, and college and
graduate students.  We give away 30 scholarships at our National convention
so help spread the word.

At the Washington Seminar we announced an exclusive partnership between Aira
and the NFB to make all NFB affiliate convention hotels free Aira site
access locations. More information will be provided closer to our
convention.

The National Convention will be held July 3 through July 8, 2018 at the
Rosen Shingle Creek Resort, 9939 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, Florida
32819-9357.  Reservations can be made directly with the hotel at
<tel:(866)%20996-6338> (866) 996-6338. The hotel will want a deposit of $100
for each room and will want a credit card number or a personal check. If you
use a credit card, the deposit will be charged against your card
immediately, just as would be the case with a $100 check. If a reservation
is cancelled before Friday, June 1, 2018, half of the deposit will be
returned. Otherwise refunds will not be made.  Registration with the NFB
National will be available after March 1 through the National website,
<http://www.nfb.org> www.nfb.org.  Deadline for funding requests is June
9th, 2018.

ACTION ITEMS
Tell others about our youth programs by sharing our
<https://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10364&qid=213792
1> BELL Academy
<https://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10364&qid=213792
1>  page and our
<https://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10365&qid=213792
1> NFB EQ page. Encourage students to apply for our 2018
<https://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10366&qid=213792
1> NFB Summer Internships and our
<https://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10367&qid=213792
1> NFB Scholarships.

Congratulations to Candice and Kyle Attrill on the birth of Tristan Wayne
Attrill, Tristan entered the world on February 15 and weighted a whopping 10
pounds 14 ounces.  Congratulations to the Attrill family.

I plan to send this to all members through the NEW-YORK-NEWS email list (
<http://www.nfbnet.org> www.nfbnet.org ) as well as our Facebook page
<https://m.facebook.com/National-Federation-of-the-Blind-of-New-York-State-1
57660447598953/>
https://m.facebook.com/National-Federation-of-the-Blind-of-New-York-State-15
7660447598953/ on a monthly basis.  It is important for everyone to know
what is going on with OUR affiliate so please encourage those you know to
follow us through one of those means.

Let's keep working together to make the Federation of the Blind a leader in
the Blindness field.

Mike Robinson, President

National Federation of the Blind of New York State 

Upcoming Dates:

Sunday, February 8.  7:00 pm, Blind Parent's Conference Call

          Contact: president at nfbny.org <mailto:president at nfbny.org> 

Tuesday February 20, 9:00 pm, Chapter At Large Conference Call

          Contact: Mary Lou Mendez, President.
successwithoutseeing at gmail.com <mailto:successwithoutseeing at gmail.com> 

Sunday March 4 - Tuesday March 6, Albany Seminar

          Contact: office at nfbny.org <mailto:office at nfbny.org> 

Sunday, March 18.  7:00 pm, Blind Parent's Conference Cal

          Contact: president at nfbny.org <mailto:president at nfbny.org> 

Saturday, March 24, 5th Annual Tom Needham and Rick Welch Ice Hockey
Fundraiser - In Loving Memory of Arnold S. Meyers 

          Contact: Tommy Needham, organizer. returnofsugaz at gmail.com
<mailto:returnofsugaz at gmail.com> 

 <http://www.nfbny.org/>  

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/new-york-news_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180215/e080a689/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 105351 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/new-york-news_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180215/e080a689/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image006.png
Type: image/png
Size: 14114 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/new-york-news_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180215/e080a689/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.emz
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 1000 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/new-york-news_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180215/e080a689/attachment.obj>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.png
Type: image/png
Size: 3421 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/new-york-news_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180215/e080a689/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image007.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 8898 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/new-york-news_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180215/e080a689/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image008.emz
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 1225 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/new-york-news_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180215/e080a689/attachment-0001.obj>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image009.png
Type: image/png
Size: 3207 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/new-york-news_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180215/e080a689/attachment-0002.png>