[Nfbf-l] Fw: News Chief NFB Article

Tue Apr 7 19:06:41 UTC 2009

Hi Kitty and Joe,

This is great puhblicity for your chapter and the NFB.  What a wonderful
fund raiser you put on every year.

If you don't mind, I'd love to take part of this newspaper article,
especially the part about Braille and the coin, and send it to our national
Braille Coordinators list.  Everyone sends articles pertinent to this year's
Braille  campaign, and yours should be included.  But I'll wait for the
green light from you before going ahead.

Sherrill

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
Behalf Of Kitty King
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 11:18 AM
To: nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbf-l] Fw: News Chief NFB Article

----- Original Message -----
From: Kitty King
To: nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 10:09 AM
Subject: Fw: News Chief NFB Article

Hello Gang:

Here is an article, which appeared on the front page of our local News
Chief, regarding our Chapter Pancake Breakfast last Saturday.  I don't know
if the pictures are included or not.  However, there were several
pictures--one of Judy Black and John Christianson on the Braille writers and
Joe King, flipping pancakes.  Our theme was centered around Louis Braille.
Ron Wills, one of our members, designed  a poster with the new silver coin
depicted in an enlarged form. We had these posted about the room.    He,
also, created a flyer explaining the life and impact Louis Braille has had
on the lives of the blind.  These were distributed to  everyone. There was
much interest among our diners.    Hope you enjoy the article.

Kitty King

----- Original Message -----
From: Tom King
To: Kitty King
Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 4:16 PM
Subject: News Chief NFB Article

Fundraiser for the blind also a teaching opportunity

By Donna Kelly
News Chief staff

Published: Monday, April 6, 2009 at 8:12 a.m.

WINTER HAVEN - Eleven-year-old Addlyn Teague and her mother, Mel, watched
intently as Judy Black, who is legally blind, deftly punched the alphabet
and a line of numbers on paper with her Braille writer.

The Teagues had just finished volunteering as servers at the National
Federation of the Blind Annual Pancake Breakfast at Beymer Memorial United
Methodist Church when they watched NFB member Black demonstrating how to
read and write in Braille, a system of raised dots that enable the blind to
read by touch.

Teague - a third-grade teacher who presents a unit each year about Helen
Keller, Braille creator Louis Braille and sign language to her students at
Jewett School of the Arts - believes it is important for children to learn
about the challenges and accomplishments of the blind. She believes this
teaches them tolerance and appreciation.

"I teach this so children can see how fortunate they are to have their sight
and to see how other people have to live," said Teague, who invited Black to
visit her classroom to visit with students.

And from volunteering with NFB members, whose blindness ranges from those
with limited vision to some who can't see anything at all, Addlyn now
understands the message the organization is sending to the public.

"It taught me that you can do many things even if you are blind," she said,
breaking into a huge smile.

Her words made Joe King, president of the Polk Chapter of the NFB, grin,
too. The breakfast not only serves as a fundraiser - the group raised
approximately $1,200 Saturday - but as an opportunity to teach folks about
the reality of blindness.

"The importance of our event is to make the public aware that blind people
are people. We are nothing to be shunned. We are nothing to be afraid of,"
King said. "We have the same equal rights as the sighted people - we just
can't see."

Legally blind since birth from retinopathy of prematurity, an abnormal
growth of blood vessels that can occur in babies born prematurely.

"What a normal person can see at 125 feet, I see at 25 feet," King said to
describe his vision.

While there were plenty of community volunteers on hand to help with the
cooking and serving Saturday, King flipped his share of pancakes, made
coffee and arrived at 6 a.m. to set up for the breakfast. Other NFB members
decorated and cleaned tables, distributed information, visited with guests
and gave demonstrations on the Braille writer.

Many folks return to the breakfast each year to support the NFB mission and
enjoy the socializing. Laura and Harry Scull, winter visitors who spend
divide their time between Pennsylvania and Florida, have attended the event
five or six times. Laura Scull became acquainted with the NFB when she met
chapter secretary Kitty King at a low vision life skills class at the
Lighthouse for the Blind six years ago.

"What brings us back is the friendship and to help the NFB so they can
continue the good work they're doing. And the food is very good, too," Laura
Scull said.

The pancake breakfast and the annual White Cane Walk held each October
during Meet the Blind Month, are events designed to promote the
organization's motto, "Changing what it means to be blind."

"We want people to know that blind people are very capable and can achieve
great success if given the right tools," said Kitty King, the chapter's
secretary and treasurer who is married to Joe King. "All we want is
opportunity, security and equality."

In addition to meeting on the second Saturday of each month at Perkins
Restaurant on Cypress Gardens Boulevard to discuss issues pertaining to the
blind, the chapter advocates for the blind on the local, state and national
levels. In addition to receiving various types of training through state and
national conventions, representatives from local chapters meet with state
legislators in Tallahassee and members of Congress in Washington each year.
The chapter is about 40 members strong and is open to anyone interested in
issues pertaining to the blind. King would like to see more people become
actively involved.

"We're out fighting for their rights. If we hadn't been out there, a lot of
things they have nowadays they wouldn't have," King said.

King said NFB members were instrumental in a change in Social Security rules
that now allow the blind to earn a higher income while still receiving
benefits. The organization also fought for, and received, Braille literacy
rights that enable blind students to receive Braille textbooks at the same
time sighted students receive their books.

The NFB is in the throes of a national Braille literacy campaign called
Braille Readers are Leaders that is designed to double the number of blind
children learning Braille by 2015. On March 26, the United States Mint
released of the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar, the first
coin ever minted with readable Braille characters. A portion of the proceeds
from the sale of the coin will benefit the Braille literacy campaign.

"They're trying to bring Braille back," said Black, who is proficient in
reading and writing in Braille with the Braille writer.

Kitty and Joe King and Black agree that learning Braille is an advantage for
the blind.

"Braille is the outlet for blind people for knowledge. If you learn Braille,
you can go on with your life because it is an opening door for everything,"
Joe King said.

For more information about the National Federation of the Blind, call Joe or
Kitty King at 863-293-5648.

donna.kelly at newschief.com

This story appeared in print on page A1

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