[Nmabs] Minutes from September NMABS meeting.

[NMABS President]

New Mexico Association of Blind Students
September 20, 2009 Meeting minutes
Meeting called to order at 7:01 PM.
Introductions were done.
Chris Chavez
Tara Sena
Britannie Burden
Monica Martinez
Terese Garcia
Amanda Youngblood
Francine Garcia
Nato Gonzales
Brianne Kotschwar
GUESTS: Darian Smith: Board Member of National Association of Blind Students
Darian gave an introduction to NABS and what he has been involved in
concerning this organization.
Darian's contact information is as follows:
E-mail: dsmithnfb at gmail.com or dsmith at nabslink.org
Cell: 415-215-9809
Chris moved that we approve the minutes, and Brianne seconded. Motion passed.
Treasurer's Report
Statement as of August 8 to September showed a beginning balance of
$1676. There was a deposit of $10 and a withdrawal $60. There was a
charge of $19.95 and a charge of $2.50. The ending balance was
$1602.96. Michael moved that the treasurer's report be approved and
Britannie seconded. Motion passed.
Announcements
The State Fair Parade went well. We had about 70 marchers. The White
Cane Banquet is October 17 at noon in Albuquerque and there will also
be banquets in Las Cruces and Alamogordo. The Las Cruces banquet is
taking place on October 6 and the Alamogordo banquet will be on
October 22. The state will be selling the Louis Braille coins at the
coin show that will take place on October 10th and 11th.
Tara, Brianne, Ray Marshal, Art Schreiber, and Tonia Trapp sold coins
yesterday (September 19th) at the New Mexico Academy of Ophthalmology.
Nato Gonzales joined our group as our newest member. He is currently
the President of the Masilla Valley chapter in Las Cruces.
Communication
The presidential release will most likely be here for the next meeting.
Terese wrote an article for the Que Pasa newsletter and did a great
job. A big thanks goes to Terese for doing this.
Fundraising
Next, we discussed doing a fundraiser at Fuddruckers, Ben and Jerry's,
or other restaurants. If we can do a benefit night at these places, a
portion of the money raised that night would go to us. Francine
volunteered to call a Chile's in town to arrange this. We were also
thinking about selling T-shirts. Monica and Amanda have volunteered to
get more information about T-shirts.
The web site is in the process of getting set up. The ownership of the
nmabs.org should transfer from William to us in the next 10 days.
October is Meet the Blind Month, and we have several ideas about how
to spread awareness. UNM's Disability Awareness Day will take place on
October 2. It will include a wheelchair obstacle course, wheelchair
basketball, and a blindfold challenge. In addition to running the
blindfold challenge, we are going to give away some literature there.
We voted on trying to get some coins to sell for Disability Awareness
Day and beyond. Chris moved that we sell 20 coins. Terese seconded.
Motion passed. Michael thought about having an assembly-style
discussion about blindness with our sighted peers, and we are planning
on hosting a game day on October 3 at UNM at 1:00 that is open to both
sighted and blind people. Finally, we discussed reading at one of the
Albuquerque Public schools sometime during October.
The next meeting will take place on October 18th at 7:00 PM.
Britannie moved that the meeting be adjourned. Amanda seconded.
Meeting adjourned at 8:50 PM.