[Njabs-talk] njabs minutes
Greg Rivera
gregg.rivera at gmail.com
Wed Apr 22 01:27:03 UTC 2009
NJABS Conference Call Minutes
Date: Sunday, April 19, 2009
Time: The conference call began at 8:04pm and ended at 9:10pm
The teleconference was called to order by President Evelyn Valdez at 8:04pm. Vice-president Quintina Singleton recited the NFB pledge. A scholarship announcement about the Lyons Club presenting the Ruben Paban Jr. Scholarship for the Bergen-Boriquen chapter is offering high school graduating seniors with a GPA of 2.8 or higher scholarships. Applicants must write a 1-page essay about their vocational goals, extra-curricular activities, and any community service in which they are involved. An email about the Lyons scholarship will be posted to the list.
The legislative update was given by Paul Grenier. The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act HR 734 needs co-sponsors so that it can pass in the house of Representatives. Amazon.com has released the Kindle reader which has books in an electronic format with the text to speech feature. The Author's Guild is refusing to allow the text to speech feature to be used because they state it is violating copyright laws. So blind and print disabled individuals are unable to utilize the Kindle Reader. The Readers Coalition held a huge protest at the Author's Guild in New York City on Tuesday, April 7, 2009. NFB members from Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York along with various other organizations attended the protest. There is an online petition to sign.
Jason Ewell who works in Affiliate Action at the National Center and is our guest speaker discussing our topic of what a chapter is and how do we join. According to where you live, you can become involved by joining a local chapter. You may contact the local chapter president or if you're not sure what chapter is in your area, you can contact Evelyn via email: evelyn at njabs.org
Jerilyn Higgins, president of the Central Jersey Chapter which meets every second Saturday of the month in Perth Amboy. Jerilyn discussed how the members of the CJC have formed the Captain Ken's Team for the Motor City March for Independence. Mary Jo Partyka, president of the Capitol chapter which covers the Trenton and Princeton areas states that she became involved with NFB after reading the Braille Monitor. Since there wasn't a chapter in her area, she decided to start a chapter of her own. Dan Faccini, president of the Northeast Chapter became involved with NFB after his performance at work became difficult because he was losing his vision. He attended national convention and he has now been the Northeast chapter president for five years. Dan's chapter does lots of fundraising and they also host the thru our eyes internet radio show in which Joe Ruffalo is the host.
An idea for a NJABS event is rock climbing. There is no set location, date, or time. A recommendation of having the event in the Cherry Hill area was made. Also the event could perhaps take place during a students' seminar, state convention, or after a chapter meeting. Please email ideas or suggestions to Evelyn.
Members Present:
Evelyn Valdez, president
Quintina Singleton, vice president
Greg Rivera, secretary/treasurer
Jessica Skinnel, board member
Paul Grenier, board member/legislative representative
Deben
Missy
Jeremy
Jason
Brian Makay
Melissa Casiano
Shafeka
Alicia
Angel
Henry
Kevin
Alex
Wendel
Danny Romero
Jerilyn Higgins, CJC president
Dan Faccini, Northeast chapter president
Mary Jo Partyka, Capitol Chapter president
A talent show announcement made by Danny Romero. He will be participating in a talent show in Ridgewood, NJ on Friday, May 1, 2009. Top prize is $500 and tickets may be purchased online or at the door for $10. Danny Romero will post the info and link on the list serve.
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NFB of NJ Chapters, Meeting Info and President's Contact Info
Capital Chapter
3rd Sat., Lawrence Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrenceville
Mary Jo Partyka 609-888-5459
choirnfb at gmail.com
Central Jersey Chapter
2nd Sat., Grace Lutheran Church, Perth Amboy, 10 a.m. - noon
Jerilyn Higgins 973-239-8874
jdhiggins at rcn.com
Cumberland/Salem Chapter
3rd Mon., Tri-County Independent Living Center, Millville
Anna Jordan 856-696-3905
ajjordan29 at comcast.net
Garden State Chapter
3rd Sat., Kennedy Memorial Hospital,
Cherry Hill, 10 a.m.
Ed Godfrey 856-848-6372
egodfrey137 at comcast.net
Northeast Chapter
3rd Sat., St. Mathew's Church Secaucus www.ThruOurEyes.org
Dan Facchini 201-906-8655
danfb at verizon.net
Northern Chapter
3rd Sat., Beth Israel Hospital, 201 Lyons Ave, Newark, 10 a.m. - noon
Rick Fox 973-743-6107
richardfox1 at comcast.net
Ocean Chapter
2nd Sat., Denny's, Brick Blvd, Brick
Mary Dockery 732-349-2456
mary-ob43 at comcast.net
NFB of NJ Divisions
Association of Blind Merchants
Lynn Reynolds 908-251-5510
lhr1827 at optonline.net
Association of Blind Students www.njabs.org
Evelyn Valdez 908-206-8701
tweetybaby19 at comcast.net
Diabetes Division
Vincent/Michele Chaney 732-251-8650
msc732 at optonline.net
Parents of Blind Children www.blindchildren.org
Carol Castellano 973-377-0976
blindchildren at verizon.net
Promote the Use of Braille
Sue Tillett 609-924-7489
suetillett at verizon.net
Mary Jo Partyka 609-888-5459
choirnfb at gmail.com
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