[Nfbmt] President riccobono's Notebook week of 12/08/2014

[Bruce&Joy Breslauer]

I think these are handy little weekly messages to keep in mind.  Joy 


 


President's Notebook


National Federation of the Blind


Mark A. Riccobono


officeofthepresident at nfb.org


(410) 659-9314


 

Dear Fellow Federationists,

 

Last week we completed a very successful Giving Tuesday effort. Our Bid for
Equality, car donations, online contributions, and donations of household
goods and clothing totaled nearly 750 donations. We came very close to
meeting our goal. Certainly with donations that are likely to come because
of our Giving Tuesday efforts, we will far exceed our giving goal. Please
continue to spread the world about our organization and ask for
contributions during this giving season. 


 


Critical actions this week:


Action needed on Space Available: 
Last Friday, the government affairs team set out a legislative alert urging
action on the Space Available bill. As expected, the Senate is set to move
the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week, and as expected,
they are unlikely to allow floor amendments. The Space Available bill has
broad, bipartisan support with nineteen cosponsors, has already passed in
the House, and is the perfect fit for a vehicle like NDAA. Blind veterans
should not be boxed out by a procedural technicality. We urge everyone to
email Senator Tester's staff (at dylan_laslovich at tester.senate.gov and
Jorge_Rueda at hsgac.senate.gov) to ask them to file S. 346 as an amendment to
NDAA, and email Senator Levin's committee staff (at
jonathan_clark at armed-services.senate.gov) to ask them to amend S. 346 into
NDAA.  

 


News:


Success for the ABLE Act:


On December 3, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the ABLE Act,
marking a huge victory for people with disabilities. A top priority for
disability advocates with a remarkably large numbers of cosponsors, the ABLE
Act allows people who are blind or those with severe disabilities to set up
special savings accounts to provide for important life expenses, like
transportation, education, and medical care, without jeopardizing
eligibility for benefits like SSI and Medicaid. We advocated for passage of
the ABLE Act during the final critical hours of its consideration, and were
mentioned twice on the floor of the House just before the vote. Now we urge
the Senate to pass its companion. 

 

Latest video: 
The video, #GivingTuesday (http://youtu.be/w3H6dardgc4), highlights the
importance of charitable donations to the National Federation of the Blind.
Generosity helps blind people around the country live the lives they want.
For more information, visit https://nfb.org/giving-tuesday.

 


Reminders:


Washington Seminar: 
We are about a month into the timeline for making room reservations at the
Holiday Inn Capitol Hill. Rooms fill up quickly, so please call (303)
778-1130, extension 219, to make your reservation, or email your
reservations to Lisa Bonderson at lbonderson at cocenter.org, by next
Wednesday, December 10, 2014.

 


Did you know?


Annual Writing Contests:

The annual youth and adult writing contests, sponsored by the NFB Writers'
Division, will open January 1, 2015, and close April 1, 2015. New this year,
the Federation's 75th birthday, the contest will, for the first time ever,
have a required theme. All submissions will need to somehow incorporate the
theme of "75". It does not have to be necessarily about the anniversary of
NFB. It could just be the number 75, or perhaps the diamond anniversary, or
75 steps to your destination, or even 75 balloons. For additional contest
details and submission guidelines, go to the website at
http://writers.nfb.org.

 

 


Dates to keep in mind:


.         December 11-14: NFB BELL Program Seminar

.         January 24-26, 2015: Legislative Directors Seminar

.         January 26, 2015: NFB Washington Seminar Great Gathering In

.         March 12-15, 2015: NFB STEM2U Boston (MA), Museum of Science

.         March 26-27, 2015: Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium

.         May 14-16, 2015: NFB STEM2U Columbus (OH), COSI

.         July 5-10, 2015: 75th Annual Convention of the National Federation
of the Blind

.         August 2-8, 2015: NFB STEM2U EQ 

 

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

 

 

Mark A. Riccobono, President

National Federation of the Blind

200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place

Baltimore, Maryland 21230

Phone: (410) 659-9314

Fax: (410) 659-5129

Email: officeofthepresident at nfb.org

Twitter: @Riccobono and @NFB_Voice

Web:  <http://www.nfb.org/> www.nfb.org