[NFBF-Tampa] Tampa Bay Chapter Meeting Minutes January 2025

Sat Feb 22 00:38:24 UTC 2025

Greetings to all,

January's minutes are pasted below my signature. 

I hope to see you tomorrow or hear you on Zoom.

And stay warm. This is cold weather for us Florida folk.

Sherrill

Tampa Bay Chapter 

National Federation of the Blind of Florida

Chapter Meeting Minutes

January 25, 2025

Beef O ' Brady's

8810 North Himes Avenue

Tampa, Florida

The meeting was called to order by President Miranda Kilby at 12:10pM.

Everyone introduced themselves. There were  20 persons in attendance,
including   5 via Zoom. Among those attending were many guests.

We then recited the NFB pledge together.

Secretary and Treasurer Reports

Miranda explained for the benefit of our guests that we have not held a
formal meeting since October due to Hurricane Milton and our annual holiday
party which was held at the home of Barbara Gaw.

A motion was made by  Louise, seconded by Dan, to approve the October 2024
chapter meeting minutes as emailed. The motion passed. 

Dan read the treasurer's report. Our current balance is $5,038.32.

A motion was made by Barbara, seconded by Sherrill, to accept the
treasurer's report as read. The motion passed.

President's Report

Miranda mentioned two local ADA accessibility committee openings currently
available n Hillsborough County, one for HART, the other for  Tampa General
Hospital (TGH.) Adriene Kurman said she had applied and was just informed
that she had been accepted to serve on the TGH committee. Sherrill suggested
that we invite TGH's ADA coordinator, Justin Stark, to be a guest speaker at
an upcoming chapter meeting, affording us the opportunity to provide
valuable input.

Miranda summarized the chapter's activities during 2024, which   included
fundraisers such as the annual Pancake Breakfast and 50/50 drawings, and
social outings such as Zoo Tampa, bowling, history museum. Several
fundraisers and educational events did not happen because of the hurricane
interrupting our October plans.

New Business

Miranda asked for our suggestions and goals for 2025. They included: annual
Pancake Breakfast fundraiser, Blindness Equality Achievement Month (BEAM)
activities, book club, comedy club, "Paint and Sip," boating or kayaking,
inexpensive Thursday mornings with the Florida Orchestra at the Straz,
(Barbara will get information about this), private rental of movie theater
so all can hear audio description without dealing with headsets. Sherrill
will get info. Miranda suggested community outreach by partnering with
another group. Z'Aleah, who is the Statewide chapter president, proposed
that we look into collaborating with her chapter in a barbecue dinner
fundraiser, perhaps in a park in Hillsborough County. A lengthy discussion
about this followed. We decided to hold a collaborative meeting between the
two chapters via Zoom to determine if this could  be a feasible and
profitable project.

Kristine asked for an up-to-date chapter membership list. Dan and Sherrill
said we will get this done following February's elections when dues need to
be paid.

Kristine then told us about a unique opportunity for which she is applying.
It's through a group called Flight for Sight which awards $10,000 grants for
creative projects. These ideas and/or projects are to be a means for
building bridges between the blind and sighted community. Kristine wants to
make short videos about accessibility. She will be traveling to Costa Rica
as part of the project.

Chapter Elections

Miranda encouraged everyone to pay their dues at the start of next month's
meeting. Dues must be paid by then in order to nominate someone   and to
vote. She said elections will be held for President, Treasurer, and Board
positions 1 and 3. She reminded us that she will be stepping down in
February, and so we must elect a president for a one year term.

Our 50/50 drawing was won by Miranda, who received $22.

Our next meeting will be held on February 22 at Beef O'Brady's.

A motion was made by Barbara, seconded by Dan, to adjourn the meeting. The
motion passed.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:50PM.

Respectfully submitted

Sherrill O'Brien, Secretary

Tampa Bay Chapter

National Federation of the Blind of Florida

Phone 813-935-0474, cell 813-767-1890

email Sherrill.obrien at verizon.net <mailto:Sherrill.obrien at verizon.net> 

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise
expectations because low expectations create barriers between blind people
and our dreams. You can live the life you want! Blindness is not what holds
you back.

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