[Nfbv-announce] FW: National Federation of the Blind to Hold THE CANE EVENT

[Fredric Schroeder]

  _____  

From: Freeh, Jessica [mailto:JFreeh at nfb.org] 
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 10:03 AM
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Subject: National Federation of the Blind to Hold THE CANE EVENT


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen                                                        

Director of Public Relations             

National Federation of the Blind                             

(410) 659-9314, ext. 2330   

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
cdanielsen at nfb.org

                                                            

National Federation of the Blind to Hold
 THE CANE EVENT

 

Join Us for a Night of Fun, Food, and Entertainment

 

Baltimore, Maryland (March 30, 2009): The National Federation of the Blind
(NFB) will host THE CANE EVENT on April 4, 2009, at the National Federation
of the Blind Jernigan Institute in Federal Hill.  The event will celebrate
the NFB's Braille Readers are Leaders program.  More than four hundred
friends, colleagues, and blind people from across the nation are expected to
attend.  The event promises an evening of food, fun, and entertainment.  

 

THE CANE EVENT will feature Mark Riccobono, executive director of the NFB
Jernigan Institute, as master of ceremonies, as well as a catered dinner and
silent and live auctions.  Live music will be provided by Marquise.   

 

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"We are pleased and proud to welcome our friends from the Baltimore
community, as well as friends from all over the country, to our annual
fundraiser THE CANE EVENT.  The evening will surely be a remarkable
celebration and will also serve to highlight the importance of Braille
literacy to the general public.  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 learning it.  Please join us at THE CANE EVENT as we work
together to reverse the downward trend in Braille literacy." 

 

Proceeds from this event will go to the National Federation of the Blind'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 minted in 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.
On March 26 the Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar was released by the
U.S. Mint. 

 

For more information about this exciting event, please contact Jerry Lazarus
at (410) 659-9314, extension 2297, or by e-mail at
<mailto:jlazarus at nfb.org> jlazarus at nfb.org.  Tickets may be purchased online
at  <http://www.nfb.org/> www.nfb.org or through Emily Neubeck at (410)
659-9314, extension 2419, or by e-mail at eneubeck at nfb.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.