[Nfbf-l] Fw: News Chief NFB Article

Tue Apr 7 20:31:25 UTC 2009

Very good article.
Great work Polk County Chapter!

Gina Minichiello, Board Member
National Federation of the Blind of Florida
Treasurer, Greater Jacksonville Chapter
minichiellog at comcast.net

----- Original Message -----
From: Kitty King <joenkitty at earthlink.net>
To: nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
Sent: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 14:09:04 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [Nfbf-l] 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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