[Oabs] Thank you, and board meeting recap

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi, OABSters,

In addition to the other notes that have gone over the list in the
past two days, I wanted to say thanks for all the work that was put
into our raffle fundraiser.  It seemed a little daunting at times, but
we got it done and have a successful fundraising effort under our
belts.  In case you missed the message with the results of the drawing
or the other various ntoes that have gone around our interwebs, we
raised a grand total of $257, which means that $128.50 will be going
to the 2015 BELL program.  I was not expecting as much, so the fact
that we exceeded the goal I had in mind on our first try really made
me happy.  This fundraiser also puts our bank balance over the $200
mark, which is also really exciting!  Special shout outs go to Emily
Pennington, our fabulous treasurer and fundraising chair who kept all
the records straight, and to Lillie who brailled a majority of the
tickets in advance and did a little selling of her own at the board
meeting.  I also want to thank Aleeha, because I know she would have
had all hands on deck with us had she been able to make it to the
board meeting too.

As Eric and Deborah have said, I think we can only go up from here.
Now that we have the resources in place and know what the man-power
needs to be like, I'm confident that future fundraisers of this nature
will go much more smoothly.  The more smoothly they go, the more
profitable they are also likely to be.  The split the pot at
convention will not take much prep work since it will primarily be
brailling tickets in the week leading up to convention, but let's keep
this fundraiser in mind when we're selling tickets in November too.
Hopefully we will have the opportunity to have this same fundraiser
next Spring, and will have the chance to improve upon what we've done
this year.

Some other notes from the board meeting of general interest to OABS:
The parents division is in serious trouble.  A lot of the people in
the parents division who are keeping the organization afloat have been
involved for years.  Carol Acres, Chrystal McClain, Cindy Conley, etc.
We've all heard these names year in and year out, and although there
are certainly other parents with younger blind kids out there, no one
has really been there for these ladies to pass the torch to.  They
have quite the list of names and contact information, but no one's
really talked to them.  They've shown up to the one-time events like
the retreats, and then ceased involvement with the organization.  The
situation is so dire that unless some parents of younger blind
children step up to the plate at this year's convention, the division
may fall apart and dissolve for a while.  The mothers of 2 of our BELL
kids have stated that they would be willing to step in, but we'll see
what happens at convention.

I talked with Carol at the board meeting, as she and I have tried to
get together for joint membership building things before.  I told her
that the student division is in a similar situation; we have a really
strong group of students now, but look at the age groups.  Most of us
on the board are in the latter half of our undergraduate programs, and
even though grad schools and masters programs are out there, we have
to look at the future of OABS in terms of membership.  It concerns me
that Lillie is our youngest member, and she's a junior in high school.
There is only so much time for all of us to be the leaders in OABS,
and I would hate to have the division falter just as it gets up and
running.  It concerns me even more that Aleeha had no one show up to
her membership call last week, and we had very poor attendance at our
meeting for the division afterwards---so poor that no business was
conducted.  I have not heard a response as to whether or not people
can meet briefly this Friday night, so please let me know one way or
the other so we don't lose a month like we did in July.  I understand
that school is time-consuming, but if we want to continue to grow this
division 30-60 minutes for a meeting per month, even 90 minutes a
month if you add a committee meeting, is not a lot of time.

Some things to look forward to: The parents division and students may
team up for a meet and greet at convention as a joint membership
project.  This was a suggestion of the board, and I think it is a
great idea.  Barbara also suggested that we seek advice from some of
the larger student divisions, and had particular insight from her
experiences as a member of the national scholarship committee.  I
intend to take her suggestion and get in contact with a few state
division presidents from states she identified this week.

Please note that the board meeting for convention will now be held on
the Thursday night before, so if you want to make that you'll need to
be there on October 30th instead of the 31st.  Convention registration
is open, so please book your room with the hotel and buy your banquet
tickets ASAP.  Now is also a good time to start looking into
transportation options should you be in need of a ride with another
affiliate member.

A new Kernel book is being planned!  If you haven't read the Kernel
books, the full text of all 30 volumes is available online.  You can
google NFB Kernel books, and the page on the NFB.org web site will pop
right up.  I am told that you can also download them from Bookshare if
you wish to put the file on a notetaker, a BrailleSense or Victor, or
some other device.  We're looking for endearing stories, and stories
that show how blind people are just normal people too.  Examples:
Emily told Barbara and I a story from her childhood about how she
didn't understand how shadows worked, and Barbara said that kind of
thing would be perfect.  She also encouraged me to write about my
experiences in high school and collegiate marching bands, so if you do
something that blind people typically don't do, writing about how you
accomplish the task and your love for it will also make for a great
contribution.

We really do need to figure out what we're going to do, if anything,
for the auction to take place on Friday Oct 31.  If you have any
basket ideas, please email them to me.  Also, please do let me know if
you are available to meet this Friday so we can all come together and
hash out our ideas.  (Anyone catch the Beatles reference?).

Thanks all, have a great week.
-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton 2016.
Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma