[Ohio-talk] September 17, Board Meeting Minutes

Tue Oct 4 14:09:40 UTC 2011

Colleagues,

Here are the September 17 Board Meeting Minutes, and please note that I have
cut and pasted them in the message below and attached them as well.

JW

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National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

September 17, 2011

            1. President J.W. Smith called the meeting to order promptly at
10:00 a.m. The meeting was held at the Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 35 East
Stanton Avenue, Columbus, Ohio. 

            2.  Sherry Ruth was the only board member absent due to illness.
There were four fines for board members not being clad with insignia.
Twenty-five people were present in addition to the board. 

            3. J.W. Smith announced that Mary Pool had informed him that she
would not be running for re-election to the board this year. She has served
since 1984. 

            4. Eric Duffy moved that the agenda for this meeting and the
minutes from the April 30th meeting be adopted. Richard Payne seconded the
motion. The motion passed. 

            5. Sherry Ruth provided the financial report, which was read by
Shelbi Hindel. After some discussion Eric Duffy moved that this report be
adopted.  Debbie Baker seconded the motion, and it carried. 

            6.We need to know if Village Discount is still using our logo on
their drop boxes. Sylvia Cooley must take their information off our Website.

            7. Cost Cutting:

a.  J.W. Smith stated that this is rubber-meeting-the-road time for us.
Expect 2012 to be the most difficult financial year we have experienced in a
long time. The life style to which we have become accustomed is at an end.
Chapters must help the state. People should not expect much assistance from
the state such as for the Washington Seminar. 

b. We discussed holding the winter board meeting via teleconference. Barbara
Pierce said that we might need to do a couple of calls, not just one long
call. Crystal McClain suggested that the treasurer's report would need to be
emailed prior to the call and dealt with in a similar way to the minutes. 

c.  J.W. Smith said today's meeting was originally supposed to be held in
Dayton but it is in Columbus because of cost considerations. He still wants
to hold the spring 2012 meeting in Cincinnati. The fall 2012 meeting would
be in Columbus. The 2012 state convention will be back in Dayton. 

d. Board members should pay for whatever they possibly can. It is our
organization, and we will keep it going. 

            8. State Convention:

a. Karen Warner is doing a great job of getting funds donated for the state
convention. She said two $50 door prizes will be given at the banquet. To be
eligible for the door prizes, you must purchase a banquet ticket. 

b. J.W. Smith circulated convention assistance forms. Completed forms are
due by October 21, 2011. 

c. Debbie Baker moved that $3,000 be used for convention assistance. Bruce
Peters seconded the motion. The motion carried. 

            9. NFB-NEWSLINER:

a. Cheryl Fischer submitted a written report. As a volunteer she continues
to answer the NEWSLINE phone, sign people up for the service, and provide
codes. Her complete report is attached and included with this minutes.

b. We have NEWSLINE for another year due to funding from RSC. J.W. Smith
will have quarterly meetings with Dan Connors and Kevin Miller in the coming
year. 

c. Eric Duffy gave a brief explanation of the NEWSLINE service. In addition
to newspapers, magazines, TV listings, and store ads, there is now a
job-search feature. This is a major reason that RSC financially supports the
NEWSLINE service.

            10. The Braille class report was given by Debbie Baker. She also
posted a report on the ohio-talk mailing list. Deborah Kendrick, Coleen
Roth, and Bernie Dressell will be helping teach when classes get started.
Funds from the Imagination grant can help with transportation for the
teachers within reason. To be a student, you need to contact a member of
this committee, of which Debbie Baker is the chair. She will put together a
document which can be used on the Website. The Hadley School for the Blind
is an acceptable option for learning Braille if there are no classes in your
area. The complete report is attached and included with these minutes.

            11. The Imagination Fund report was given by Beth Debus. The new
campaign started on August 1st. Those interested must sign up again for this
campaign. There are a lot of online tools available to help you. You can
find these at http://www. raceforindependance. org. Imagination Fund money
raised supports programs at the Jernigan Institute.  Twenty-five percent of
the funds raised are divided among the 52 affiliates. These funds are
separate from the 25 percent of the Imagination Fund used for grants that
affiliates, divisions, and chapters can apply for. 

            12. Fundraising:

a. Eric Duffy said we will be collecting items for sale on EBay at the
Dayton convention.We want to involve the community in this project because
we want a wider source of funds than our group can provide. Eric Duffy and
Carol Akers will be handling the EBay sales.We will not be using an outside
company this time. 

b. At lunchtime Carol Akers presented a Thirty-One Purses and Gifts
fundraising opportunity. For more information, visit
http://www.mythirtyone.com.

c. Amy Phillips, the Pampered Chef consultant who assisted in our fundraiser
this spring, will be at the state convention for another fundraising
opportunity. 

d.We need to develop a corporate donation letter for people to mail or hand
out that solicits deductible contributions and gives an explanation of our
organization. Pierce reminded the group that, whenever we make
presentations, we should always tell the people what they can do to help our
organization. 

            13. October is Meet the Blind Month. We encourage all our
members to participate.  Susan Day said the Springfield chapter is getting
involved in community activities. Richard Payne reported that the Miami
Valley chapter is planning a tandem bike ride on October 8th. 

            14. Scholarship Report:

a. Barbara Pierce reported that our state scholarship winners are Shivaji
Kumar and Ryan Beyer. 

b. She also reported that as of yet we do not have a commitment from our
national scholarship winners to attend our state convention. The national
scholarship winners are Sandy Sommers and Aleeha Dudley. 

c. Debbie Baker reported that Bob Merkle may be willing to donate money to
the scholarship fund. 

            15. Membership:

a. It is a good idea for chapters to hold an informational meeting
periodically. Miami Valley did this in the early summer, and two of their
new members were in attendance at the board meeting. 

b. Richard Payne said, let's get as many people as possible to the Dayton
convention. It would be a good idea to partner first-time convention
attendees with experienced Federationists. 

            16. Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users

Debbie Baker ordered copies of the new brochure, which have not yet arrived.
She would like people to pass these out. The brochures are free from the
Independence Market; the phone number is 410-659-9314, Ext.  4. 

            17. Guest Speakers:

a. Bryan Boll, 622 West Fair Avenue, Lancaster, Ohio 43130, phone (866)
413-3627,is part owner of Heritage Pharmacy in Lancaster, which primarily
services institutions. He presented ScripTalk and special packaging for
medicines, which make it more manageable to identify and control dosing.
Barbara Pierce requested that Mr.  Boll write an article for our newsletter.
He agreed to do so. 

b. Diane VanderBrink, dvanderbrink at yahoo.com, (914) 907-3299, is a Beach
Body coach who promotes wellness, fitness, good health, and good nutrition.
There is a fitness club, led by Diane VanderBrink, which meets once a week
at the Vision and Vocational Resources to work out using exercise videos.
She was interested in selling products that she carries, but she was even
more interested in encouraging us to eat right, exercise properly, and seek
support for losing excess weight. 

            18. State Convention:

a. Hotel:Wyndham Garden Dayton South, 31 Prestige Plaza Drive, Miamisburg,
Ohio 45342; (937) 434-8030. 

b. Ever Lee Hairston will be our national representative. 

c. If you use paratransit, your information can be faxed to the Dayton
office so that you can use the paratransit system. Please fax your contact
information to the attention of Sue Eason, (937) 425-8419. The cost is $3.50
per ride. Richard Payne, host chapter president, said not to panic; if he
knows when you are arriving, you will get to the hotel.

d. NAPUB will be conducting a fundraiser, a radio play, Friday evening. The
cost is $5 per person. The readers are NFB leaders, and they will be using
Braille scripts. 

e. Hospitality will also be held Friday evening. The Springfield chapter
will be co-hosting, and the Merchant's Division will be providing support as
well.

f. Convention registration forms need to be turned in as soon as possible.
Membership lists should be sent to Barbara Pierce. Chapter reports for the
Gavel Award competition should be sent to the Awards Committee. Chapters and
divisions not competing must send a report of the past year of some kind to
J.W. Smith. Dues, which are $.50 per person plus $10 for chapters and
divisions should be sent to Sherry Ruth. If the reports and dues are not
submitted on time, groups are subject to a $25 penalty. 

g. Sherri Albers will be organizing a new activity, Hobby Lobby. It will be
held Friday evening from 7:00 to 8:30. Members will be teaching others
things like knitting, French braiding, and card games.  If you have a skill
or always wanted to know how to start a hobby, contact Sherri Albers, and
she will see what can be done. 

h.  J.W. and Richard urged people to stick around and participate in the
planned activities after the banquet. Do not have your own parties. 

I. Sunday morning there will be a leadership breakfast for chapter
presidents and vice presidents. 

            19. Braille copies of the leadership list are available. 

            20. The meeting adjourned at 2:11 p.m. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Shelbi Hindel, Secretary

Dear friends,

Those who will teach Braille for Ohio in Columbus, Toledo, Cincinnati,
Dayton and Springfield have requested materials and supplies for teaching.

These have been ordered and received.  I will bring materials and supplies
to Saturday's board of directors meeting.  I will also bring samples of the
curriculum that I prefer to use-Braille is Fundamental from the Texas School
for the Blind.  I will distribute these documents to those who will teach
Braille so that they have some familiarity with the format and content of
this curriculum.  As we meet with our students and move through instruction,
members of the Braille Literacy Committee agreed to help us write practice
exercises to supplement and complement shortfalls, gaps and differences
among the curricula that the teachers have chosen.  Teachers who have so far
been identified are Bernie Dressell, Deborah Kendrick, Colleen Roth and
Debbie Baker.  We are grateful for the receipt of our Ohio grant from the
Imagination Fund that makes it possible for us to purchase curricula and
supplies.

Sincerely,

Debbie Baker, committee chair

Newsline Report for the NFB Ohio September 17, 2011 Board Meeting

During the last three months, Newsline referrals have been coming in mainly
from blindness agency social workers, the Library for the Blind, and this
month, from schools. We have been adding 10 to 15 new Newsline subscribers
to our rolls each month. In September, a handful of students from the School
for the Blind have registered.  Also two Amish students from Berlin, Ohio.
One is in the fourth grade and the other in the eighth. Their parents don't
mind if they use technology at school, but not at home.   

In addition to new subscribers, three to five people a month call to say
that they registered for Newsline a long time ago, have forgotten their
codes, and want to use Newsline again because they keep hearing people
talking about how great it is. 

When speaking with each new subscriber, I listen to how they are coping with
what is usually recent vision loss, and then I try to provide encouragement
and make sure they understand what other blindness services are available to
them.  I want to thank those of our members who I've called upon to follow
up with someone who needed additional contact and support. 

As always, if anyone needs Newsline materials to use at senior fairs or
other community events, just give me a call at 1-866-391-0841. 

Cheryl Fischer  

Dr. J. Webster Smith

President, National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

PO Box 458 Athens, OH 45701

740-592-6326

"Changing what it means to be blind"

For more information go to nfbohio.org

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