[Njabs-talk] Louis Braille Coin Celebration Press Release

[Quintina M. Singleton]

Dear Students,
I am so happy to see the building excitement on this list for the Louis Braille coin celebration coming up this Saturday.  
Below is the official press release for the event.  Feel  free to forward to all you know.
See you on Saturday!
Tina 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

CONTACT: Joe Ruffalo                                                                  

National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey    

Phone number973 743-0075
E-mail address

nfbnj at yahoo.com

National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey  Celebrates 
Release of Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar
 

Clark, New Jersey March 26, 2009: The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) of New Jersey, today celebrates the release of the Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar.  This historic commemorative coin, the first-ever U.S. coin to contain tactile, readable Braille, will be launched at a special ceremony at the headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind, in Baltimore, beginning at 10:00 a.m. on March 26, 2009.  In Clark, New Jersey, the launch  will be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel located at 36  Valley Road in Clark, NJ from 11:00 A.M.to 1:00 P.M.  on March 28. 

 

At this event, which will be attended by blind students and their parents, members from all of our 7 chapters and5 Divisions as well as  public officials,  Members will demonstrate methods in which Braille equipment and devices used by blind persons are equivalent even though they are different. 

 A professional wrestler  who calls himself the  American Outlaw will take an aggressive stand to destroy Braille illiteracy. The proclamation commemorating  March 26, 2009,.  as Braille Readers are Leaders Day will be read in Braille.  In addition to the usual refreshments, 26 cupcakes, each containing the symbol of a Braille letter in  M  and Ms will be displayed and given to attendees.   

Louis Braille pins, chocolate replicas  of the Louis Braille Commemorative Coin, Braille alphabet cards, the book _The World Beneath My Fingers, and flyers, highlighting the importance of Braille and information pertaining to the Louis Braille Silver Dollar Coin,   will be distributed to attendees.  

 

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: "If the blind can read, the blind can achieve. The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar celebrates the man who gave literacy to the blind and is a unique and beautiful keepsake, but it is also a coin with a mission: to make sure that every blind child and every adult losing vision in our nation has the opportunity to learn Braille.  

 

According to Joe Ruffalo,  president of the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey,  "Learning Braille is as important to the blind as learning print is to the sighted. To be truly literate, Braille is the answer." 

 

Many blind people in New Jersey learned Braille and other skills which increased their self-confidence and inspired in them a can-do attitude. 

  

Sales of the Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar, which was authorized by a law passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush in 2006, will support the NFB's "Braille Readers are Leaders" campaign.  The campaign is a national initiative created to double the number of blind children learning Braille by 2015.

 

 
 

The National Federation of the Blind is asking the American public, through purchasing this stunning silver dollar, to join its campaign to bring literacy, education, opportunity, and success to the blind of America.  The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar goes on sale to the general public at noon today.  Those interested in ordering a coin should visit www.usmint.gov or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).  For more information about the National Federation of the Blind and the Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, visit 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.