[NFBMI-Talk] For The Benefit Of Blind Walmart Employees: "Volunteerism Always Pays"

[Kane Brolin]

Hi, everybody.

I'm casting a rather wide net with this post.  But I think considering
that we blind folks often are in the workforce these days, we might as
well help orgs that we believe in to  gain financial resources out of
this program that Walmart says is designed to give back to the
community at a grass roots level.
https://secure.acsevents.org/site/DocServer/Walmart_VAP_one_pager.pdf;jsessionid=00000000.app30008a?NONCE_TOKEN=181AEDFF98F77C5DD93459DA3E3B2982

A one-page fact sheet about VAP is attached to this message.

If you are in the Federation, it's likely you are about to spend more
time than usual prepping to make the NFB BELL Academy®,  the National
Convention experience, or (later in the fall) the State Convention
experience as meaningful and productive as possible.

Last night, I conversed over the phone with a fellow member of the
state affiliate board here in Indiana.  My friend happens to be a
Walmart employee.  And he said that Walmart will give him $10 per hour
credit for up to 25 hours per year that he spends intentionally doing
work on behalf of a specified not-for-profit organization.  The org
you spent those hours working for then receives an amount of cash
equal to the credit you built up through your sweat equity.

The beneficial org has to be registered as a 501(c)(3) entity with its
own federal Employee Identification Number.  But most of our state
affiliates and divisions within the NFB, as I understand it, have
separate, federally issued EIN; so they would count.  My friend said
that work counting toward this end must be linked to a particular
event or happening--such as the carrying out of a Convention or
educational enterprise-- not just busy work done for that org as a
routine or general matter.

It is quite possible that I do not have a clear handle on all the
facts here.  But I think that in many small ways, capitalizing on the
largesse of a sizable company such as Walmart is something prudent to
do when the opportunity arises.  One reason is that if many blind
Walmart employees direct their contributions toward some part of the
NFB, this will go a long way to raise our street credibility in the
mainstream retailing community, and it might get our voice heard more
loudly overall.

Just a thought. I know Walmart's business practices and culture have
earned well-deserved scorn at various points in time.  But all I'm
doing is opening up a line of discussion to see what folks think,
especially if anyone has successfully leveraged this for the good of
the Federation.

Thank you for your attention.

Kind regards,

Kane Brolin
President, Michiana Chapter
Treasurer, Indiana State Affiliate
National Federation of the Blind
(574)386-8868 (mobile)
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Walmart_VAP_one_pager.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 505601 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20220609/61f87496/attachment-0001.pdf>