[NFB-Seniors] report regarding senior division meeting

[Judy Sanders]

Here is a brief summary of our NFB Senior Division meeting at the NFB
convention in New Orleans.

 

We began by hearing a statement affirming our safety protocol with covid 19.
A moment of silence was observed in memory of our former president, Ruth
Sager and all of our other seniors we will miss.

 

This was followed by introducing all the first-timers at our meeting. Some
of them were attending our meeting for the first time and some were
attending their first NFB convention. 

 

On a healthy note, Jessica Beecham, who leads our Sports and Recreation
Division, gave us helpful hints about exercises fit for seniors. And Candice
Chapman, president of our Human Services division, inspired us to go out
into a world after living through a pandemic.

 

One of the most important accomplishments of our division involves
activities that teach blind seniors to continue to live the lives they want.
We heard from a panel led by Shelley Coppel introducing us to the in-person
and virtual retreats that teach newly blind and those who have been blind
for a long time about accomplishing things they never thought possible.
Darryl Rice and Katie Pinkney are two retreat graduates who shared their
experiences and insights.

 

After a short business meeting we held elections with the following results:

President, Glen Crosby of Texas; first vice president, Judy Sanders of
Minnesota; second vice president, Suzanne Turner of Ohio; secretary, Shelley
Coppel of South Carolina; and Treasurer, Duncan Larsen of Colorado. We have
two board positions;  neither of these positions were up for election this
year. Therefore, Jane Degenshein of New Jersey will serve one more year.
Glen Crosby's board position became open when he was elected president. We
welcome Sandy Halverson of Virginia to our board for a one-year term.

 

During our convention, there is a competition to see which division can
raise the most money through our PAC (Preauthorized Contribution plan. Each
individual who signs up to donate using this option can vote for their
favorite division. Congratulations to us! The seniors did it! We are the
proud owners of the PAC mule which sits on my living room coffee table. The
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children came in second.

 

It was our hope to stream our Division meeting; we ran into difficulties.
Hopefully, everyone can come in person next year or we will have worked out
technical troubles.

 

Our Senior Division is alive and thriving. We urge everyone to join us for
our conference calls in 2023; we look forward to many people joining us for
our winter virtual retreat and please pay attention to announcements on our
listserv. If you are reading this on the listserv tell your friends to
subscribe to this website:

 

http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-seniors_nfbnet.org

 

or email

 

nfb-seniors-subscribe at nfbnet.org <mailto:nfb-seniors-subscribe at nfbnet.org> 

 

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