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<b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br><br>
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CONTACT:<br>
</b>John G. Paré, Jr. <br>
Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy <br>
National Federation of the Blind<br>
410-659-9314, ext. 2218<br>
410-917-1965 (Cell)<br>
<a href="mailto:jpare@nfb.org">jpare@nfb.org</a><br>
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<div align="center"><b>National Federation of the Blind Announces 2016
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards<br><br>
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Baltimore, Maryland (November 20, 2015):</b> The National Federation of
the Blind (NFB) announced today that applications are now being accepted
for the <a href="https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main">2016 Dr. Jacob
Bolotin Award Program</a>. Each year the NFB presents cash awards to
individuals and organizations that have demonstrated exemplary leadership
and extraordinary accomplishments in improving the lives of blind people
in the United States.<br><br>
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Dr. Jacob Bolotin was a blind physician who lived and practiced in
Chicago in the early twentieth century. He was widely known and respected
in Chicago and throughout the Midwest during his career, which spanned
the period from 1912 until his untimely death at the age of thirty-six in
1924. He was particularly recognized for his expertise on diseases of the
heart and lungs. Bolotin used his many public speaking engagements to
advocate for the employment of the blind and their full integration into
society.<br><br>
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Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
said: “Dr. Jacob Bolotin was a pioneer who overcame low expectations and
discrimination to become a renowned member of the medical profession
without the benefit of the support services and civil rights protections
available to blind people today. He was also a fierce advocate for
greater opportunity for the blind in his time, and doubtless would have
been a leader in the organized blind movement had he lived to see it come
into being. The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program celebrates his pioneering
spirit by recognizing and supporting outstanding programs, technologies,
and individual efforts that help blind Americans live the lives we want.
Our previous winners represent projects and achievements of outstanding
merit consistent with Dr. Bolotin’s legacy, and we look forward to
honoring more trailblazers this year.”<br><br>
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Recipients of the 2016 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards will be determined by the
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee of the National Federation of the
Blind. Applications are due by April 15, 2016. Individuals or
organizations are encouraged to apply on behalf of themselves or others.
The award recipients will be announced at the
<a href="https://nfb.org/convention">2016 NFB National Convention</a> in
Orlando.<br><br>
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The Jacob Bolotin Award Program is funded through the generosity of Dr.
Bolotin’s nephew and niece, Alfred and Rosalind Pearlman. In addition to
establishing the Alfred and Rosalind Pearlman Trust to endow the awards,
the late Mrs. Pearlman also wrote <i>The Blind Doctor: The Jacob Bolotin
Story</i>. The book is available through the National Federation of the
Blind. For more information or to fill out
<a href="https://nfb.org/application-information">the online
application</a>, please visit
<a href="http://www.nfb.org/">http://www.nfb.org/</a>.<br><br>
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About the National Federation of the Blind <br><br>
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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.<br>
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