[Nfb-new-hampshire] 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
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