[NFBC-SFV] January's Chapter Minutes in the body of this email

Fri Feb 9 05:21:23 UTC 2024

The  National Federation of the Blind of California

San Fernando Valley Chapter 

Date:  January 13, 2024 

The meeting was called to order at 10:05 am. We  began with the Pledge of
Allegiance, the NFB Pledge and the 1  minute message.

Trivia question: What was the favorite song you listened to last year?   

In attendance:

John Albarran, Sheila Biglang-awa-Secretary, Keith Cabala, Racquel Decipeda,
David and Valerie Delawder, Betsy Estrada,  Ron Hilliard - Member-AT-Large,
Tiffany Johnson, Lindsay Kerr, Candace Luther, Lynne Nishihara, Jo Anne
Seaman, Joy Stigile, Robert Stigile-, President, Jane Suh, Robin Smith,
Anthony Melena, Donna Roysner  guest, Elizabeth Herford-guest and  Lilia
Mares.   

Total attendees: 21

Members: 19, 2 guests. 

Announcements:

*	The announcement made by Racquel on behalf of Hearts for Sight is as
follows:

1.     Hearts for Sight is starting a cardio fitness program on the 22nd of
January at 11 am, led by Alexis Cheng, a fitness personal trainer. They are
in need of 4 more participants. The program will consist of 10 sessions.

2.     There will be a yoga class every Thursday at 8:30 am via Zoom.

3.     There is a hike planned at Griffith Park. They require a couple of
sighted guides, and if interested, Racquel can accommodate a couple of
V.I.Ps. The meeting place is at a coffee shop at 8:30 am, and the hike will
commence at 9 am. Lunch will be provided by HFS. Access trips should be
scheduled for 2 pm, no later than 2:30 pm.

*Next, David asked Robert about the new glasses called Celeste. Robert
received them last week and tested them yesterday. These glasses are still
in the development process and the program is still being developed. For
more information, you can ask Robert."

Secretary's Report 

Tiffany made a motion to approve the November minutes as sent, seconded by
Lindsay and the motion carries. 

Treasurer's Report 

Robert sent out the December-January Treasurer's report on January6, 2024
in the list serve.

Committee Report

Fundraising

"Instead of organizing a fundraiser, as suggested last year, Robert proposed
hosting a fun day event or activity where we can gather together and enjoy
outdoor activities. Examples of potential activities include a tour at a Ben
& Jerry's Ice Cream location and/or target shooting. More research and
information will be gathered for these activities.

Joy and I have invited everyone to join the fundraising committee to help
generate more fundraising ideas.

Racquel inquired if a meeting had been scheduled to discuss it further.
Robert has set the meeting for Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 8 pm. Please
plan to attend."

"Robert asked Racquel to share an important HFS announcement that she had
forgotten to mention earlier. She announced that the City of Burbank will
host a Sports Day for people with disabilities. The event will feature
adaptive sports for the blind and others with disabilities, with Hearts For
Sight participating in the collaboration. The event is scheduled for
February 17, 2024, from 10 am to 3 pm at a park. Flyers will be distributed,
and free food will be provided, sponsored by another organization.
Registration is required to attend, and both registration and food are free.
For more information, please contact Racquel."

Holiday Party

"Joy shared that the holiday party went well! With such a large group, we
didn't expect to fill up the place, but we had 98% of the guests attend.
Overall, it was great, aside from a few glitches that can be corrected. Jo
Anne mentioned that the manager was nice, and Keith added that the
restaurant's service was excellent, even expressing gratitude to Jennifer
for it.

So, Robert brought up the idea for next time: if we planned earlier and if
everyone liked the venue, would we want to have the holiday party there
again? Almost everyone agreed! Therefore, the venue is set for our 2024
holiday party at the Magnolia Grill in North Hollywood. Robert also
mentioned that we will move the party date back to the second Saturday of
December since it was moved to the third Saturday last year due to the
anniversary event of the Pathfinder." 

Washington Seminar 

"The Washington Seminar is scheduled for the end of January. Robert,
Lindsay, and Shelby Felter will be attending. Unfortunately, they are unable
to take everyone, so only 6 or 7 people were unable to attend this year.
However, there is a lot of work to be done during the seminar. The main
gathering will be held on Zoom for those interested in attending.

There are three recurring issues from last year: the Medical Devices
Non-Visual Access App, the Website & Software Accessibility Act, and the
Blind Americans Return to Work Act.

For those unable to attend the Washington Seminar, you can still offer
support by contacting your Congressional members and Senators and asking
them to co-sponsor these bills. Attendees of the seminar will have a meeting
on January 29th to discuss these bills. Additionally, it's worth mentioning
the Access Technology Affordability Act to your Congressional members and
Senators, even though it's not currently included in the agenda."

The National Convention

"The National Convention will take place from July 3rd through the 8th at
the Rosen Center Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Robert suggests contacting the
hotel soon to make reservations.

State Convention

The State Convention will be held from March 14th through the 17th at the
Marriott Hotel in Rancho Cordova, Sacramento. The registration form is
nearly complete. Virtual registration is $25, while in-person
pre-registration fees are $30 for registration and $65 for the banquet.
After March 7th, these fees will increase by $20. For hotel room
reservations at the Marriott, a phone number will be provided along with an
online reservation link. Room rates are $139 plus tax per night.

During the State convention, there will be elections for various positions.
The positions open for election include President Tim Elder, 1st Vice
President Rachel Grider, 2nd Vice President Robert Stigile, Secretary
Shannon Dillon, and Treasurer Tiffany Manosh. Additionally, three Board
Members, Brian Buhrow, Allison Depner from San Diego, and Carmen Barela,
will also be up for re-election.  

Betsy inquired about bus transportation. Robert mentioned that Sheril
Thurston, President of the Inland Empire Chapter, is arranging a bus from
Los Angeles to the hotel. The bus fare will be approximately $140. If you're
interested in taking the bus, please inform Robert by the end of this
weekend so he can coordinate it with Sheril.

Lindsay inquired about the scholarship application, which is being handled
by the scholarship Chair, LisaMaria Martinez. Forms will be sent out between
now and February 1st. Students selected for the scholarship will need to be
present for the entire week, including attending the banquet. At least 3 or
4 students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher will be selected. The Affiliate will
cover their transportation, registration, and banquet fees.

Robert also suggested applying for the National Scholarship. The application
is already available, with a deadline of March 31st."

"The next item Robert discussed is the auction basket for the convention.
For those who are not familiar, each chapter has been putting together a
basket of items for auction at the convention for about 10 years now. It can
be a virtual or in-person basket. Robert asked if someone could take charge
of organizing the basket to please let him know. Let's set up a meeting to
discuss the theme and what items to include. Therefore, Robert decided to
include the auction basket in the fundraising conference meeting via Zoom.  

Presidential Release

Tiffany played the Presidential Release #534.   President Marc Riccobono
announced that it's the World Braille day  January  4, 2024. 

For more details, you can contact Robert.

Robert then reminded everyone that if you haven't paid your membership dues,
please do so, as we will be having elections. We have two vacant positions,
one for Vice-President and the other for Treasurer. Candace is interested in
running for Vice President. For anyone else interested, please contact
Robert.

He also asked if someone would like to help him with updating the
membership. Please let him know if you're interested.

Finally, Tiffany made a motion to adjourn the meeting, which was seconded by
Candace. The meeting adjourned at 12 noon."

Respectfully submitted;

Sheila Marie B.C.

Chapter Secretary

Cell: 818-404-7646

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