[Nfbv-announce] Have you started planning for "Meet the Blind Month" yet?

[John Bailey]

Have you started planning for "Meet the Blind Month" yet?
If you have either already started or just haven't gotten around to it yet, here is one of the easiest methods for getting the word out about your chapter and making lots of important friends.

Meet the Blind Month is October. White Cane Safety Day is October 15. What could be better?

If you are not familiar with White Cane Safety Day, it was started several years ago to inform the public that those of us who travel using a white cane have as much right to the sidewalks and crosswalks as anyone else. That is right.
They really needed a law to say that.

Well, White Cane Safety Day is a perfect opportunity to reach out to your city or county leaders and have them do a proclamation for you. It can give you lots of visibility if you work it right.

Basically, you write up a draft of a proclamation and submit it to one of the local government offices that handles that stuff. They clean it up (making sure to spell everyone's names right) and set up a date to present it. On that
date, you and everyone you can get to support you should show up and get your picture taken with the local officials and you may even be able to make a speech or two. Lots of content for the media.

Creating a proclamation is really easy. Below is an old one the Fairfax Chapter did. All we need to do now is to change the dates and include the name of the new Mayor. Then, just send it in and wait to be contacted.

Below is the old proclamation. Please feel free to tweak it to your needs and submit that. It is really a simple process and there is no reason your chapter shouldn't be doing it every year to remind others of what a great job you are
all doing.



PROCLAMATION


Office of the Mayor
The Honorable Mayor Robert F. Lederer
City of Fairfax


Whereas, on October 15, 2006, the Fairfax Chapter, of  The NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF VIRGINIA will observe White Cane Safety Day; and
Whereas, the purpose of White Cane Safety Day is to make the
public aware of the white cane as a symbol of independence and
freedom of blind people, and to promote public awareness of the
blind as equal and productive citizens; and
Whereas, during this time the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF VIRGINIA will remind all citizens that
persons carrying a white cane or using a dog guide are legally
blind and have equal rights under the law to housing; to all
places to which the public is invited including, but not limited
to, places of lodging, amusement, and recreation; to all modes of
public transportation; and to all the streets and byways of our
communities; and
Whereas, at this time motorists are to remember that the law
requires drivers to exercise appropriate care when approaching
blind persons; and
Whereas, it is also at this time that
the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF VIRGINIA reminds employers
that when blind persons receive proper instruction and genuine
opportunity, they compete on equal terms with sighted persons and
are, in fact, employed within the broad spectrum of competitive
labor and within the professions:
Now, therefore, I, Mayor Robert F. Lederer

, Mayor of the City of
Fairfax, Virginia , do hereby proclaim October 15, 2006, to be White Cane
Safety Day in Fairfax and commend
the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND on its sixty-six years of effort to achieve security, equality, and opportunity for all blind people of this nation
through education, advocacy, and consultation, and urge all
citizens to be cognizant of the events arranged for this time.
Dated this 15th day of October, 2006.

Robert F. Lederer