[Nfb-idaho] Press Release-Braille Coin Celebration

[Susan Bradley]

National Federation of the Blind of Idaho
Elsie Hiebert Lamp - President
300 Willard Avenue, Pocatello, ID 83201
elsielamp at yahoo.com fax (208) 232-5416
ph (208) 233-5833 cell (208) 241-6030
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
CONTACT:
Susan Bradley
First Vice President
National Federation of the Blind of Idaho
(208) 794-9431
craftisue at hotmail.com
 
National Federation of the Blind of Idaho Celebrates 
Release of Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar
 
Boise, Idaho March 26, 2009: The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) of Idaho celebrates today the release of the Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar.  This historic commemorative coin, the first-ever U.S. coin to contain tactile readable Braille, will be launched at a special ceremony at the headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind, in Baltimore, Maryland.  In Boise Idaho, the launch will be held on March 27, 2009 at the Owyhee Plaza Hotel beginning at 4:00 p.m. 
 
The celebration will be a high point of the annual Convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Idaho.  Governor Otter will send a proclamation which designates March 27, 2009 as Braille Readers are Leaders Day in Idaho.  We will also be acquiring a proclamation from Mayor, David Bieter of Boise.  We will have the first coin available in Idaho for all to see and will announce how to purchase the Coin.  Everyone present will receive a sample of Braille, and blind Braille readers and writers will be on hand to demonstrate the value of the code.  Displays will show both the simplicity and the importance of Braille and how its availability is enhanced by technology for the blind.
 
Elsie Lamp, of Pocatello, President of the NFB of Idaho says, “I was not one of the fortunate blind children who learned Braille.  It would have made my life so much richer.”
 
Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind said, “If the blind can read, the blind can achieve. The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar celebrates the man who gave literacy to the blind and is a unique and beautiful keepsake, but it is also a coin with a mission: to make sure that every blind child and every adult losing vision in our nation has the opportunity to learn Braille.”
National Federation of the Blind of Idaho Celebrates 
Release of Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar
March 26, 2009
Page two
 
Blind people in Idaho are complimentary of the Braille teachers in this State.  Unfortunately there simply are not nearly enough Braille teachers and so many blind children and adults do not develop as much reading and writing skills that they need.
 
The 2009 Louis Braille bicentennial Silver Dollar commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille, inventor of the Braille system, which is still used by the blind to read the write.  Sales of the Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar, which was authorized by a law passed by Congress in 2006, will support the NFB’s “Braille Readers are Leaders” campaign.  The campaign is a national initiative created to double the number of blind children learning Braille by 2015.
 
The National Federation of the Blind is asking the American public, through purchasing this stunning silver dollar, to join its campaign to bring literacy, education, opportunity, and success to the blind of America.  The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar goes on sale to the general public at noon today.  Those interested in ordering a coin should visit www.usmint.gov or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).  For more information about the National Federation of the Blind and the Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, visit www.braille.org.
 
 
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About the National Federation of the Blind
 
The National Federation of the Blind of Idaho is one of 52 affiliates of the largest organization of the blind in the nation. With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States.  The NFB improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.
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