[Ohio-Talk] Ohio Affiliate Meeting and reminders

Tue May 25 17:59:00 UTC 2021

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

Richard Payne,

 <mailto:RCHPAY7 at Gmail.com> RCHPAY7 at Gmail.com

(937) 829-3368

Ohio Affiliate Meeting

May 26, 2021

7:00 PM EDT.

The Purpose of the NFB:

The purpose of the National Federation of the Blind is two-fold—to help blind persons achieve self-confidence and self-respect and to act as a vehicle for collective self-expression by the blind. By providing public education about blindness, information and referral services, scholarships, literature and publications about blindness, aids and appliances and other adaptive equipment for the blind, advocacy services and protection of civil rights, development and evaluation of technology, and support for blind persons and their families, members of the NFB strive to educate the public that the blind are normal individuals who can compete on terms of equality.

Join Zoom meeting:

 <https://zoom.us/j/4081850851> https://zoom.us/j/4081850851

Meeting ID: 408 185 0851

One tap mobile +1-646-876-9923, 4081850851# US

Call: 669 900 6833

Id: 4081850851

AGENDA:

1.	Welcom, Vice President Turner
2.	Inperson Meetings, Safety and Vaccinations: President Payne,  vice president Turner and other leader’s input.
3.	All about the national convention and everything that you should know: Vice president Turner,  President Payne along with input from other leaders.
4.	Technology team: Eric Duffy, Coordinator
5.	Scholarship committee update: Jordy D. Stringer, chair
6.	Newsline: Todd Elzey, Coordinator
7.	Committee and Division Reports
8.	Other Announcements

Ajern

Critical Actions:

Register for the 2021 National Convention Before May 31:

The National Federation of the Blind National Convention is July 6 through July 10, 2021, from anywhere and everywhere. A member toolkit was sent via email last week to encourage members to promote registration—please share registration promotions in your local area. Early registration, by May 31, provides voting eligibility for members, enters registrants’ names for door prizes during convention, and enables registrants to receive pre-convention emails. Additionally, the registration process provides the opportunity to make access support requests. We are committed to making our meetings a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space for everyone. Register now at  <https://nfb.org/registration> https://nfb.org/registration. 

News:

Plan to Attend the June Presidential Release—Captioning and Spanish Available:

The next Presidential Release of the National Federation of the Blind will be delivered on Tuesday, June 1, at 8:00 p.m. eastern. After the remarks there will be an opportunity for questions. Submit questions in advance to  <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org> cdanielsen at nfb.org and put PR506 in the subject line, or call 410-659-9314, extension 2473. Closed captions and Spanish interpretation will be available. Mark your calendars! The link to join is  <https://zoom.us/j/91778192252> https://zoom.us/j/91778192252 and other Zoom details will be available soon. 

Door Prizes:

Miley Cowes from Eureka, Montana…do you remember how it felt when your name was called for a national convention door prize? Or do you hope to hear your name announced at this year’s convention? It’s exciting to hear your name announced for everyone to know you are attending the convention and then to be the winner of a coveted door prize. We are continuing the long-standing fun tradition of door prizes at the 2021 NFB National Convention. Please help us share the excitement of winners’ names being announced and attendees anticipating their coveted prize. 

We are accepting door prizes for the 2021 NFB National Convention. We request cash donations so that we can distribute gift cards and gift certificates as prizes. Cash donations make it easier to create prize groups and to distribute prizes from one location. Please make your checks payable to National Federation of the Blind and write Door Prizes in the memo. Mail the check to National Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230, Attention: Fiscal Services - DP. By addressing the check this way, we will easily identify it as a door prize and process it accordingly. You should also send an email to  <mailto:prize at nfb.org> prize at nfb.org to let us know you are sending a contribution for the door prizes and the full name of the organization that the contribution is from. We want to make sure we recognize your organization in our thank-you list. You can contact Bridgid Burke ( <mailto:bburke at nfb.org> bburke at nfb.org or extension 2271) or Belinda Hooks ( <mailto:bhooks at nfb.org> bhooks at nfb.org or extension 2508) with any questions. We discourage everyone from making door prize donations through the nfb.org/donate page; however, if a door prize donation is received through this page, we will reduce the donation by 3 percent to help us offset the credit card transaction fees. We are looking forward to another informative, fun, and prize-filled convention.

PAC Prizes:

Every year the Pre-Authorized Contribution program holds various contests during the national convention that NFB affiliates and individual members contribute to the prizes. We are again asking NFB affiliates and national divisions to support our fun PAC contests by contributing cash donations to the contest prizes. Please make checks payable to National Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230, Attention: Fiscal Services - PAC. You should also send an email to  <mailto:PAC at nfb.org> PAC at nfb.org to let us know you are sending a contribution for the contest prizes and the full name of the organization that the contribution is from. We want to make sure we recognize your organization in our thank-you list. You can contact Scott LaBarre ( <mailto:slabarre at nfb.org> slabarre at nfb.org) or Bridgid Burke ( <mailto:bburke at nfb.org> bburke at nfb.org or extension 2271) if you have any questions. We are looking forward to another fun-PACked convention!

Amendment to the Endless Frontier Act from Senator John Thune: 

Update: Last week we told you about the Endless Frontier Act in the Senate and how Senator John Thune of South Dakota introduced an amendment that contained two important provisions to ensure that people with disabilities would be included in the design and utilization of highly automated vehicles. The first would create an exemption classification for manufacturers who “provide transportation access for individuals with disabilities (as defined in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102)), including non-visual access for individuals who are blind or visually impaired,” as long as the vehicle was equivalently safe to a non-exempt vehicle. The second would prohibit a state from issuing a “motor vehicle operator’s license for the operation or use of a highly automated vehicle in a manner that discriminates on the basis of disability.” For a more detailed summary of these provisions, please read the recent  <https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/policy-statements/letter-chair-cantwell-thune-amendment-endless-frontier-act> letter to Senators Cantwell and Wicker that I wrote in support of the amendment. The Endless Frontier Act is still being debated in the Senate this week, so you still have a chance to make an important impact through your calls and emails. Please contact your senators and ask them to support Senator Thune’s automated vehicles amendment. 

We Reached Our Goal! Thank You for Your Support:

We did it! Thanks to everyone who contributed last week, we reached our goal of $25,000. Because of the generosity of Deque Systems and an anonymous donor, that amount will be doubled in honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day. That means that every dollar you gave will go twice as far in advocacy, education, and helping blind people live the lives we want. Thank you!

Recent Blog: “Lack of Awareness Makes Accessibility Inaccessible”:

Many people have their lives needlessly disrupted due to the lack of knowledge of the tools that would make it possible for them to maintain their quality of life despite the onset of blindness. We must promote awareness of the availability and need for accessibility. Read Anil Lewis’s story in our recent  <https://nfb.org/blog/lack-awareness-makes-accessibility-inaccessible> Voice of the Nation’s Blind Blog. 

Career Opportunities at the National Federation of the Blind:

The National Federation of the Blind is seeking flexible, hard-working individuals who will work with us to ensure independence and equality for all blind Americans. Currently we have several opportunities to include: Braille proofing and production specialist, program assistant NFB Independence Market, operations specialist for NFB-NEWSLINE, outreach program coordinator. Learn more about  <https://nfb.org/about-us/career-opportunities> our career opportunities.

Dates to Keep in Mind:

(all times eastern)

*	June 1: Presidential Release LIVE, 8:00 p.m. 
*	June 9: App Development Seminar,  <http://www.nfb.org/cena> www.nfb.org/cena 
*	June 29: Rookie Roundup, 8:30 p.m.
*	July 6-10: NFB National Convention, anywhere and everywhere

Richard Payne,  President

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

937/829/3368

 <mailto:Rchpay7 at gmail.com> Rchpay7 at gmail.com

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.

Executive Board,

Richard Payne, Affiliate President

Suzanne Turner, Vice President

Eric Duffy, Secretary 

Todd Elzey, Treasurer 

Marianne Denning, Board Member

Cheryl Fields, Board Member

Annette Lutz, Board Member

Carolyn Peters, Board Member

Barbara Pierce, Board Member

Kinshuk Tella, Board Member 

William Turner, Board Member