[Nfbofsc] Positive Note 1518

[David Houck]

September 16, 2015

Memo To:  Executive Officers, Board Members, Chapter & Division Presidents &
Others

From:  Frank Coppel, President

Positive Note 1518

Greetings Fellow Federationists:

 

              Now that Fun Day at Rocky Bottom is behind us, it is time to
turn our attention toward Meet the Blind Month which is held during the
month of October.  This is an extremely important event, because it provides
our members the opportunity to educate the public of the programs and
services offered by the National Federation of the Blind.  Meet the Blind
Month activities can also be used as a recruitment tool to introduce blind
individuals to our organization.  It is my hope that all our chapters are
planning activities in their communities to promote this worthwhile event.
Please let me know if your chapter will be having a Meet the Blind Month
activity and I will be glad to share this information in the Positive Note.


Alumni weekend for the SC School for the Blind will be held on October 16.
If you need further information regarding transportation or hotel
reservation information contact Isaiah Nelson at (803) 413-2434.  

The Columbia Chapter is currently organizing a cruise which will set sail on
April 25, 2016, on The Enchantment of the Sea, Royal Caribbean Cruise line.
The cruise will be five days and four nights and the deposit is $200.  For
more detailed information contact Tiffiny Mitchell at (803) 629-5915. 

Shelley Coppel, President of our Senior Division has the following
announcement; "I would like to thank everyone who purchased tickets for our
drawing during the State Convention.  Thanks goes to Emily McKenzie for
making a beautiful afghan for this fund raiser!  

We are currently selling chances on a two night stay, with two registrations
for our next year's state convention to be drawn at our Statewide Seminar,
January 9, 2016.The tickets sell for $10 per ticket, or $20 for 3 tickets.
Please feel free to contact me at 803-796-8662 to get your tickets to sell.
We need everyone to participate to make this a great fund raiser!"  

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.  Joining me for comments in this
Positive Note is the President Emeritus of the NFB of SC.  Here is Dr.
Capps.  

              Last week at RBRCCB was one of the most positive that I can
remember and I want to share much of this with our Positive Note readers and
others.  Mr. Vinsen Powers of Loris was the recipient of the $500 winning
Fun Day ticket which was sold by Alma Lee Doyle of our Loris Chapter.  Upon
receiving the $500 check, Mr. Powers immediately advised Alma Lee that he
was going to return the check as he had been so blessed.  I cannot recall
anyone in the past receiving this $500 prize returning the entire amount.  

              For some time Ed Bible, a member of the NFB of SC Board and
the Federation Center Board, had been working to have his church do some
volunteer work at RBRCCB and his diligence paid off handsomely last week.
Brooke West's weekly report from last week provides a lot of wonderful
information and what follows is some of this uplifting report:

"Tuesday:  I was unable to get anyone to come out to do housekeeping so I
did some light cleaning in Ellenburg and Oglesby to prepare for the Mt.
Hebron Mission group's arrival to do volunteer work. Wednesday:  I met Gary
from the Mt. Hebron Mission group in the morning and we did a walkthrough of
all the buildings to find things that needed repair.  We had a four page
list when we were done. Part of the volunteers arrived in the afternoon and
we began work on the buildings.  Thursday: I met Ed Bible and his wife and I
really enjoyed speaking with them as they are such great advocates of this
property. More volunteers arrived and began working on more projects and
some of them involved landscaping, painting the railings for the Conference
Center, applying water sealant on the Conference Center's deck, repairing
the sagging floor in the men's bathroom and under the ice maker, inspecting
all of the smoke detectors and replacing batteries and installing missing
detectors, replacing ballast in the lighting fixtures of the women's
bathroom in the Conference Center and in Oglesby Cottage room 1, among many
other projects. About fifteen volunteers worked from noon to 5:00 p.m.
throughout the property."  (As previously described Brooke West secured a
$1,000 gift from Rock Springs Baptist Church in Easley and this proved to be
adequate for the needed supplies which amounted to $987.86). "Friday:  Mt.
Hebron spent $447.00 of their own money on food for their volunteers and
will not need to be reimbursed as they planned for this expense ahead of
time. About twenty volunteers worked from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. throughout
the property.  Saturday: All thirty of the volunteers worked from 8:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m. and accomplished an unprecedented amount of repairs and
improvements. I never imagined so many things could be fixed in such a short
amount of time.  When I walked through the buildings at the end of the day I
was moved to tears at seeing all of the work that had been done. These
volunteers were an answer to prayer as they gave RBRCCB new life and a fresh
start. The past few days with the Mt. Hebron Missions group have been the
most positive and encouraging time during my tenure as Resident Manager. I
really enjoyed spending time with Ed Bible and Jennifer Bazer and look
forward to working with them in the future.  The volunteers purchased $64.00
worth of tee shirts and hats as well.  Sunday: The remaining volunteers left
before noon after finishing a few more projects."

              We salute the Mt. Hebron Missions Group for their magnificent
assistance which has been described in wonderful detail by our own Brooke
West.  We look forward to continuing the wonderful relationship with this
outstanding church.

 

Final Thought:  "You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what
you give." 

- Winston Churchill

 

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