[NFBofSC] Positive Note 1828

[jennifer at successforlives.org]

August 23, 2021

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

From:  Jennifer Bazer, President


Positive Note 1828


 

803-960-9977  

Jennifer.H.Bazer at gmail.com <mailto:Jennifer.H.Bazer at gmail.com> 

Greetings Fellow Federationists:

 


65th annual state convention


 

What an invigorating 65th annual state convention of the National Federation
of the Blind of South Carolina, NFB of SC! Over 115 individuals participated
in-person at the North Charleston Marriott Friday, August 20 through Sunday,
August 22, 2021! Nearly 70 individuals registered to participate virtually
in the convention! Thank you to all the folks that participated from states
including, but not limited to: Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Nevada,
California, Vermont, Missouri, and Colorado! We appreciate your interest in
the NFB of SC and hope we will see you in future events!

 

Friday began with the board meeting of the NFB of SC followed by division
meetings! It continued with a reception including the Push band. The
students ended the night with a division meeting and elections. The new SC
Association of Blind Students' Board consists of: Derique Simon, President;
Brookelynn Raulerson, Vice President; Anna Price, Secretary; Riley Crawford,
Treasurer; Matthew Duffell-Hoffman, member at large. Congratulations
SCABS!!! Let's go build the Federation and I know I will see students on
upcoming committees, divisions and chapters!

 

Saturday was full of enlightening and enthusiastic presentations! We opened
the morning session with presenting of the colors by scouts from the local
area along with a proclamation presented by the Mayor Pro Tem of North
Charleston! Our national representative, Scott LaBarre, gave us a report for
the national office. I ended the morning session with the presidential
report which included accomplishments of the NFB of SC from the previous
year and the vision for our Palmetto affiliate for the coming year!

 

We took a break to grab a bite to eat, socialize with friends, network with
other affiliates, or just relax. Our afternoon session began at 2:00 and
ended at 5:00. During the day we had presentations on Turning Obstacles into
Opportunities from members of the Federation from Texas, Missouri and
Nevada. We heard updates from the SC Commission for the Blind and Talking
Book Services. We heard from students and interns who participated in the
summer teen program and glimpsed what is happening in our Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion committee. Our general sessions on Saturday were packed with
information, awareness, dedication and passion for the Federation!

 

Saturday evenings' banquet was energetic, inspiring and full of laughter!
Scholarships were presented to first place, Casey Rose; second place,
Matthew Duffell-Hoffman, and third place, Andrew Adams! Congratulations to
all who applied for a scholarship. Thank you to those chapters, divisions
and individuals who contributed to this valuable fund; we raised over $6,000
in scholarships this year! Students are our future! Scott LaBarre
entertained us with his keynote address about "airport guy"! We heard from
and recognized our platinum, gold and silver level sponsors. Thank you all
for helping NFB of SC raise over $6,000 in sponsorships to help defray costs
of the convention! The Donald C. Capps Award for 2021 was presented to Steve
Cook, NFB of SC board member and president of the Columbia chapter for his
dedication, passion, and hard work in the NFB of SC. The Educator of the
Year Award was presented to Alicia Meadow Ott for her energy and love  for
young children in the educational arena!  

We concluded our banquet with our annual banquet fundraiser which raised
just over $10,000 in less than one hour! Thank you to those who donated and
those who made pledges. Every year, I am proud to be a part of this exciting
event where all of us come together to give what we can to a cause that
means so much to all of us and to build the Federation! We will begin
listing contributors in our next Positive Note. After the banquet, the
students finished the evening with game night, a fundraiser for the student
division!

 

Sunday morning sessions opened with a memorial service by Dorothy Barksdale
to remember those who transitioned during the last year. She moved us with
her beautiful voice in song. Kris Crawley from the Columbia chapter and
member of the Muslims' group ended the memorial service with prayer. NFB of
SC board members were elected. Congratulations  to the following members for
their positions on the board: Loretta Green, first district; Derique Simon,
third district; Linda Dizzley, fifth district; Isaiah Nelson and Ed Bible,
members at large. Financial reports for NFB of SC, Rocky Bottom and
Successful Transitions were read and accepted. We heard updates from the
following: Rocky Bottom, Children's Camp, Senior Camp, Federation Center and
PAC and SUN. Chapters and divisions had their fundraising drawings. Scott
closed our convention with encouraging the NFB of SC to continue to build
the Federation and his report that we are "Rocking and Rolling" in the
Palmetto affiliate!

 

Thank you all for helping us have a successful 65th annual state convention.
All of us working together made it  possible with our first hybrid
convention. I want to thank all of you for supporting, encouraging and
loving me through my first state convention as president of the NFB of SC. I
am proud to be leading this affiliate and with love, hope and determination,
we are turning obstacles into opportunities.

 


Committees 2021-2022


 

If you wish to chair or co-chair a committee, please email me with your
goals and vision for the upcoming year along with steps to accomplish those
goals. We want to insure accountability for committing to a project and to
insure goals are attained. Those chair and co-chair intentions must be
emailed to me by September 15. If you wish to serve on a committee, please
email or text me with your committee interests by the same date. Committees
for 2021-2022 will begin starting in October! Please understand we want
fresh ideas, new leaders and that committee leaders may change to give
others an opportunity to serve with their ideas.

Jennifer.H.Bazer at gmail.com <mailto:Jennifer.H.Bazer at gmail.com> 

803-960-9977

 

2021-2022 Committees

We Care

Fundraising

Legislative and Advocacy

Public Relations and Social Media

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Diabetes Action Network (DAN)

Grant

Scholarship

Resolutions

Employer of the Year

Educator of the Year

Donald C. Capps

Membership and Outreach

Meet the Blind

Braille Literacy

Doing Our Fair Share including PAC, SUN and Dream Circle

Finance

 


Contributing to Banquet Fundraiser


 

We raised just over $10,000 at our annual banquet fundraiser at the state
convention! I want to thank chapters, divisions and individuals for making
this a success! We could not do it without all of us working together. Names
of those who have contributed and pledged will be listed in future Positive
Notes. If you would like to donate, please make checks payable to NFB of SC
with banquet fundraiser in the memo line and mail to the Federation Center,
119 S. Kilbourne Road, Columbia, SC 29205. You may also contribute using Pay
Pal on our

www.nfbofsc.org <http://www.nfbofsc.org> 

website. We appreciate you supporting NFB of SC and its programs and
services!

 


Fundraising Committee Update


 

>From Debra Canty, chair

Mega thanks for purchasing your tickets for the 2 Echo Dots, Amazon Fire
Tablet and the $50 cash. The drawing was held at the state convention
08-22-21 and here are the results:

The total amount raised from the tickets are $1,135.00. 

Kathy Loza, NFB Belvedere Chapter, echo dot

Perry Pringle, NFB Sumter Chapter, Echo Dot

Andre Lemon, Facebook, Amazon Fire Tablet

$50 Cash was won by someone on Facebook as well.

All prizes will be delivered.

These funds were raised by the NFB of SC Fundraising Committee-2021.

A special thank you to committee member, Andrew Adams for providing the
names, prize choice and ticket numbers on a spreadsheet and Siri for
choosing a random number from the tickets sold and presented during the
state convention.

Team work makes the dream work!!!

 


Sports & Rec Fund Raiser


 

>From David Rebocho, President, Sports and Rec Division Fund-Raiser

The Sports and Rec Division is still selling whistles with lanyards and
awesome lime green Cousy that has the NFB symbol on them and it says
"national federation of the blind of South Carolina sports and rec division.
If you would like to support the division, please call or text David at
401-484-4525.

David Rebocho 

President 

Sports/Rec Division 

 


Blind Merchants Fund Raiser


 

>From the Blind Merchants' Division

The Merchants' Division has Tickets for a prize drawing. The tickets are 1
for $5 or 3 for $10. The prize is a smart TV of at least 55 inches. The
tickets will be available starting at the convention. The drawing will take
place at the statewide seminar in January. Please reach out to Belinda
Banks, President of this division or another merchant to request tickets!
Let's support merchants!

 


Senior Division Fund Raiser


 

>From Shelley Coppel, President, Senior Division

Fund-Raiser Beginning at state convention

The Senior Division is hosting a 50/50 drawing to begin at this convention
to be drawn at our Statewide Seminar.  Tickets will cost $5 per ticket.  The
winner and Senior Division will split the profits!. Please reach out to
Shelley Coppel for tickets to support the Senior Division!

 


Marriott Raffle Fund Raiser


 

NFB of SC Fund-raiser, Marriott Raffle

Ten tickets were sent to all chapter and division presidents for our NFB of
SC fund-raiser for the Marriott. Two nights and breakfast for two valued at
$500 to be used by September 1, 2022. The drawing will be held during
Palmetto Connects on November 18. One ticket for $10 or three tickets for
$25. Please call David Houck at the Center at 803-254-3777 if you need
tickets. You may send a check to the Center at 119 S. Kilbourne Road,
Columbia, SC 29205 or pay using Pay Pal on our site.

www.nfbofsc.org <http://www.nfbofsc.org> 

Put it on Face book, ask your friends and family to purchase, sell to places
you go.

Let's work together to make this a successful fund-raiser for the Palmetto
affiliate. We have currently only sold 13 tickets. Great odds for those
individuals; however, not a successful fund-raiser with only 13 tickets sold
at this time. This was a generous offer the Marriott gave to the NFB of SC
for a fund-raiser valued at $500. This is a drawing a lot of individuals in
our community will enjoy!

Marriott tickets sales so far:

16          Sumter Chapter

  3          Columbia Chapter 3 Lori Corley Blind Vision

12          At Large Chapter

6            Grand Strand Chapter

  3          Lancaster Chapter

  6          Belvedere Chapter

18          Sports & Rec

  3          Sheila Wright - MO

67          total

 


SCSB BLIND ALUMNI SEPTEMBER 24 AND 25  2021


 

The SCSB ALUMNI will be hosting a special ten years celebration during the
September 24 and 25 2021 homecoming weekend at Robertson Hall Fun Room for
the Blind Alumni.  It will kick off on Friday night with the yearly meeting,
at 5:00pm, followed by dinner and a unique program that will bring back good
memories.  The Blind will also run the canteen during the football game on
Saturday.

Registration:

Registration for the weekend-- September 24 and 25  is $35.00($25.00 for
Alumni and $10.00 for Friday dinner).  Each person is responsible for any
additional meals and snacks.  We will meet in Robertson Hall Fun Room.  

Please call Magdaline Floyd and place your meal order for Friday dinner at
803-920-4433

Friday night will feature a meal, door prizes, and a student of each decade
will give a short talk, and on Saturday morning from 9:00am till 10:00am; a
visit to the Museum in Walker Hall.

Hotel--- Make your reservation today at 

Holiday Inn Express  I-26 US 29  

Exit 21B Westgate Mall

895 Spartan Blvd

Spartanburg, SC 29301

Phone:  864-699-7777

Rates are $102.00 plus tax for single rooms or double rooms. Make sure you
tell the representative that you are with the  Blind Alumni Cedar Spring so
you can receive the special rates. These rates are good from Thursday,
September 23 through Sunday morning, September 26 at checkout.

The hotel offers a continental breakfast at no cost.

You can purchase a SCSDB Green Hornet jacket witch features the 1970s dark
green jacket with  green and white  around the collar, cuff,  and tail  with
SCSDB across the back shoulders with the hornet under it .  This will be a
wonderful audition to add to your fall and winter wears

You can place your order for your Green Hornet jacket(s) by texting or
calling Magdalene Floyd at 803-920-4433.  Give her your name, contact phone
number, jacket size(s) and how many jacket(s) you need.

Jacket Sale---  price is not determined as of now.  The vender for the
jacket is still trying to secure the jackets, you can still place your
order.   Right now there are 29 commitments to buy a jacket.  If the jacket
are ready, then September 3 is the deadline to order the jacket if you want
it by September 25th.  The jacket will still be available for order after
September, but you will get it at a later date, but the price may change. 

Anthony Nelson

Secretary

 


Cooper River Bridge Run


 

Our Sports and Recreation Division will be coordinating the Cooper River
Bridge Run held the last Saturday in September. We plan to rent an Air BNB
the night before in the Charleston/MT. Pleasant area to prevent early
Saturday driving. After you have registered with Shree from the information
provided below, please contact me or David Rebocho to let us know if you
wish to stay in the Air BnB the night before. All individuals staying at the
Air BnB will need to pay their part in the rental of the house by August 15,
2021. Please remember you can get friends and family to sponsor you to run
or walk during this event to cover registration and housing costs.

Here is a message from our contact:

You can direct participants to Shree.  I'll include all the contact info at
the bottom of this email. Shree can help them sign our waiver and then she
can collect the information necessary to help them register.  

After looking at the CRBR website, it appears that the registration fee goes
up as the date draws closer.  Until June 15 the registration fee is $50.
After that the fee jumps to $55, then it jumps again to $60 after August 15.


Shree Gobin

Volunteer Coordinator, Adaptive Expeditions 

(317) 682-8222

Shree at AEOutdoors.org <mailto:Shree at AEOutdoors.org> 

 


Zoom Events for the Week of August 23, 2021


 

              The following meetings are scheduled on the Zoom platform this
week. You are welcome to attend any of these meetings, even if you are not a
member of the chapter or committee.  All Committee meetings are open to the
public for listening. Contact President Bazer if you would like to be added
to any NFB of SC committee so that information stays current on our website
and membership list.  Here is what is coming up on Zoom for the month. All
meetings are on the main Federation ID of 803-254-3777, unless noted.

Dates & Times of meetings are subject to change. All times are Eastern.

 

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Get Fit Session 5:30 PM Rocky Bottom

Computer Science & Tech Division 8:00 Rocky Bottom

Elections will be taking place for the CSTD for dues paying members

Diversity & Inclusion Committee 8:00 PM

 

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Social Media 7:30 PM

 

Federation Center

 

 

              NFB of SC Federation Center is inviting you to a scheduled
Zoom meeting.

Topic: NFB of SC Chapter and Committee meetings

Times are in  Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8032543777?pwd=QTVQd2RzN3l6QnNmZ0FmSnp6NG8vQT09

Meeting ID: 803 254 3777

Passcode: 124578

One tap mobile

+19292056099,,8032543777# US (New York)

 

Rocky Bottom

 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8648789090?pwd=QTVQd2RzN3l6QnNmZ0FmSnp6NG8vQT09

Meeting ID: 864 878 9090 Passcode: 124578

One tap mobile +19292056099,,8648789090# US (New York)

 

 


Fascinating Facts


 

"I Am" is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

 


Joke of the Week


 

What does a house wear?

Address!

 


Final Thought


 

"Many will start fast, few will finish strong." - Gary Ryan Blair

 

If you have read to the end of this positive note, what were your take-aways
from this convention? Your favorite parts? Memorable parts? Email me with
your responses.

 


NFB Pledge 


 

I pledge to participate actively in the effort of the National Federation of
the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to
support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its
constitution.

 


NFB One Minute Message 


 

"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." 

 

If this message was forwarded to you and you would like to receive it
directly in your inbox, as well as, receive messages regarding the National
Federation of the Blind of South Carolina, please email Steve Cook at
cookcafe at sc.rr.com <mailto:cookcafe at sc.rr.com> 

 

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