[Nfbv-announce] Governor Martin O'Malley to Serve as Honorary Co-chair of Braille Literacy Campaign

[Fredric Schroeder]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


 

CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations 

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

cdanielsen at nfb.org


Governor Martin O'Malley to Serve as 
Honorary Co-chair of Braille Literacy Campaign


 

Baltimore, Maryland (March 19, 2009): The National Federation of the Blind
(NFB), the nation's leading advocate for Braille literacy, announced today
that Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley will serve as an honorary co-chair of
the NFB's Braille literacy campaign.  As a co-chair, Governor O'Malley will
help advance the NFB's Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, a national
initiative to promote the importance of reading and writing Braille for
blind children and adults.  The Braille Readers are Leaders campaign kicked
off in July of 2008 with the unveiling of the design of a commemorative coin
to be released on March 26, 2009, in recognition of the two-hundredth
anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille (1809-1852), the inventor of the
reading and writing code for the blind that bears his name.

 

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"The National Federation of the Blind is pleased to have Governor O'Malley
as part of this historic initiative to bring Braille literacy to all of the
blind children and adults in America who need it.  As the respected governor
of the fine state of Maryland, home to the headquarters of the National
Federation of the Blind, Governor O'Malley will be an invaluable asset in
reaching out to the citizens of Maryland to share his belief in Braille
literacy.  There can be no doubt that the ability to read and write Braille
competently and efficiently is the key to education, employment, and success
for the blind.  Despite the undisputed value of Braille, however, only about
10 percent of blind children in the United States are currently learning it.
Society would never accept a 10 percent literacy rate among sighted
children; it should not accept such an outrageously low literacy rate among
the blind.  The Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, with the support of
influential Americans like Governor O'Malley, will reverse the downward
trend in Braille literacy and ensure that equal opportunities in education
and employment are available to all of the nation's blind."

 

Governor Martin O'Malley said: "I am honored and pleased to serve as an
honorary co-chair of the Braille Readers are Leaders campaign.  I have
worked with the National Federation of the Blind many times, and I truly
believe in its mission to bring literacy to all blind children and adults.
Blind people have the same right to literacy as everyone else and I am eager
to participate in the campaign to accomplish this mission."

 

For more information about the Braille Readers are Leaders campaign and the
Louis Braille commemorative coin, please visit www.braille.org
<http://www.braille.org/> .

 

 

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About the National Federation of the Blind



With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the
largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the
United States.  The NFB improves blind people's lives through advocacy,
education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and
self-confidence.  It is the leading force in the blindness field today and
the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the
National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and
training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.