[Nfbf-l] Fw: News Chief NFB Article

Tue Apr 7 20:37:34 UTC 2009

Hi Sherrill:

That would be great!!  I was not, exactly, sure how to get it on the 
National list.  You have the green light.

Thanks for your compliment.  It makes all the hard work, even more 
appreciative.

Kitty
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sherrill O'Brien" <sherrill.obrien at verizon.net>
To: "NFB of Florida Listserv" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 3:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] Fw: News Chief NFB Article

> 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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>
>
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