[NFBF-Tampa] Minutes of Tampa Bay Chapter Meeting 230826

[danjhicks at gmail.com]

Tampa Bay Chapter

National Federation of the Blind

Minutes for Chapter Meeting 

August 26, 2023

 

 

The meeting was held at Beef 'O'Brady's Restaurant, 8810 North Himes Avenue,
Tampa, Florida. 

 

The meeting was called to order at 12:05 PM by the President, Miranda Kilby.

 

All present introduced themselves, including some members who joined via
Zoom.  Miranda lead the NFB Pledge.

 

The minutes for the previous meeting have not been distributed. We tabled
the last meeting's minutes. The Chapter Secretary, Sherrill O'Brien, was not
able to be present. Chapter Treasurer Dan Hicks is creating minutes in her
absence. 

 

Miranda gave her Presidential Report, beginning with awards that are going
to be presented at the upcoming State Convention. One or more awards could
be won by a chapter. Others by an individual. She will send out a list
detailing the awards to be presented. 

 

Dan gave the Treasurer's Reports for June and July. We have a balance of
$3290.44 in our chapter treasury. Treasurer's report was approved (Motion by
Barbara Gaw, second by Marion Gwizdala).

 

Miranda congratulated the chapter on exceeding our $1000.00 goal for the
pancake breakfast. This included post-event donations from several members.
Most members pitched in to do the work to make this event a success and so
did some family members of members and other non-members as well. 

 

Miranda asked for suggestions on how the event might have gone more smoothly
and how we might do better in the future. 

 

Jessica Cuddy said that the only problem she had with the event was that
planning it seemed a little rushed, compared to the event last year. She
suggests we start the planning a little sooner the next time. 

 

Dan suggested more kinds of tickets for different drawings and mimosas, et
cetera. 

 

Overall, the event went off very well and was a lot of fun.

 

The next item of discussion was the Stronger Together Concert, which is
scheduled  for October 5. Marion Gwizdala said the band is really good and
working well together. There have been a few rehearsals and will be more. He
has secured donation of professional lighting and sound for the event. We
have 40 days to sell the 247 remaining tickets. We also need items for the
auction at the convert. We need to solicit local businesses and other
entities, but we need to make sure this is organized so we don't duplicate
efforts. There was a discussion of ways to sell the tickets. 

 

Board Member Yvonne Rosanelli will be reaching out to television stations to
generate publicity for the event. 

 

Miranda said we are redesigning our flyers and they will have a QR code. She
is also reaching out to Jorge Hernandez to see if we can get a link and/or
QR code on our chapter webpage. 

 

Dan suggested putting our QR code on our chapter Facebook page, even as the
profile photo. 

 

There was discussion of Eventbright, which is a way to sell tickets to
events. Some of us will meet via Zoom tomorrow, Sunday, at 7:00 PM to
discuss this and other ways to publicize the concert and sell tickets. 

 

We need to make sure that our message to the public regarding the event is
consistent and positive. 

 

Miranda mentioned an upcoming Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A in Citrus Park
Mall, on Thursday, October 14. We will receive 20 per cent of food sales at
that Chick-fil-A location from 11:00 AM thru 8:00 PM on that date, provided
the purchaser mentions the NFB. We are not allowed to solicit participation
at the mall on that day. Also, 20 per cent of online orders from the
restaurant will go to the chapter, as long as the proper code is used in the
order. It would be good if some of us could be there at the mall on that
day, particularly if we can have a table to distribute literature. 

 

Several members have mentioned things that they will be donating to the
auction basket that we will be contributing to the NFBF Auction at the
upcoming convention. We need more items and we need to know what additional
items are being contributed by September 5. All items need to be brought to
our next chapter meeting on Saturday, September 23. 

 

We talked about our NFB golf shirts. Marion is looking for a company that
will embroider the logo on the shirts, rather than just a screen print. A
couple of members suggested that the shirts have pockets. 

 

Miranda called for New Business. 

 

Chapter Board Member Greg Farley said he has been working on aquiring a lot
of items that will make great auction items or door prizes. They include
talking alarm clocks, magnified nail clippers, other  optical and electronic
magnifying devices of various kinds, and other items. All items are new or
gently used. Some of the electronic devises are valued at about $1,000.00.
Marion said that those could be auction items.

 

Miranda mentioned that she is currently in possession of a Perkins Braille
writer, which was gifted to the chapter. She does not know what condition it
is in, but it is available to anyone who needs it. If nobody in the chapter
needs it, she will expand her search for a home for the brailler. 

 

Louise Payton asked about our doing a Meet the Blind event. We all decided
that the Stronger Together concert is really our Meet the Blind event. There
was discussion that members could take part in the walk-a-thon that is being
held by the Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind.

 

The 50/50 drawing was held. The winner was Yvonne Rosanelli. Her prize was
$38.00.

 

The Chapter Board will meet next week to work out finances - in particular,
how much each member will receive towards paying for the upcoming convention
registration and banquet. 

 

Louise mentioned the organization Friends of Library Access. The
organization has been actively seeking new members, because the group is
shrinking, sue to the age of some of the members. Dues are just $10.00 per
year. 

 

Miranda and the group congratulated Marion for being selected to serve on
the HART ADA Advisory Committee. This was a committee that Gloria Hicks
served on until her death.

 

The motion to adjourn was made by Marion, seconded by Dan.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 1:27 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted, 

 

Dan Hicks, Treasurer

Tampa Bay Chapter

National Federation of the Blind of Florida

 

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