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<p class="MsoNormal">Happy Holidays Chapter Members and Friends,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Please find below and attached the minutes for the December 2020 Potomac Chapter meeting.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John Halverson, Potomac Chapter, Corresponding Secretary<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thursday December 10, 2020<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Potomac Chapter Meeting<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Christine called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. and 21 members were present.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Last month’s minutes were adopted without correction.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The treasurer’s report was adopted. The current balance is $2,535.64 in the general fund and $750.00 in the youth fund.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tracy spoke about our upcoming Richmond seminar. This year we will be advocating for accessible absentee voting legislation which has been introduced in both the House and the Senate. Legislative meetings will be held on Tuesday January
19. Interested chapter members should attend training on either Saturday January 16 at 1:00 p.m. or Monday January 18 at 7:00 p.m.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Interested chapter members should notify Tracy by Wednesday January 6 with their name, address, and times when they are available to attend appointments.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Deepa spoke about Washington Seminar. It will be held virtually on February 8-11, 2021 with the great gathering-in at the usual time on Monday. Virtual appointments can be made with federal representatives and senators throughout the week.
Interested chapter members should contact Arielle Silverman at <a href="mailto:arielle@disabilitywisdom.com">
arielle@disabilitywisdom.com</a> with their names, addresses, and schedule availability.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jimmy Morris, an O&M instructor from Richmond, spoke to the chapter about pandemic travel and social distancing tips. For example, members discussed strategies for safely distancing in grocery lines and disposing of gloves after touching
objects in public. We also discussed the challenges of navigating while wearing a mask and adjusting to new traffic and pedestrian patterns.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nancy provided a membership committee report. The committee is updating contact information for all current members. Members should check that their contact information is correct and should reply-all to Nancy’s email if there are any changes
to be made or if their name needs to be added. Nancy is requesting replies by Dec 31.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sean mentioned that Square charges approximately $0.50 for every $5 dues payment collected online. He proposed raising dues to $5.50 if they are submitted online, to recoup this charge. We will discuss this at the next meeting.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sean has set up a link to collect donations from chapter members to the St. Georges Episcopal Church’s food pantry through the end of the year. John Halverson will distribute the link to chapter members in a separate email.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sean announced that we have received about $400 for the comedy fund-raiser which will take place tomorrow, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. Arielle will distribute the Zoom information to the paid attendees tomorrow morning.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nancy proposed presenting to the chapter next month about Libby, a new program for downloading Ebooks from the library.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Next month we will have an in-depth discussion of future programming ideas for the next 6 months or so of virtual programming.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some ideas include a virtual dinner, movie night or online theater/entertainment, live music, or trivia.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The NFB pledge was recited and the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Respectfully submitted,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Arielle Silverman, Secretary, National Federation of the Blind Potomac Chapter<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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