[Ohio-Talk] NFB of Ohio Message

[Richard Payne]

	2023 has gotten off to a busy start. Our affiliate is moving forward
with positive momentum. As many of you know, we had a difficult election
process during our 2022 convention, and I recognize that it may take time to
get past some of the hurt feelings that were caused. The good news is that
we have a board that is committed to working together to strengthen our
family bonds and meeting our mission of helping blind Ohioans live the lives
they want. I look forward to working with them and all of you in that
effort. My door is open, and I welcome everyone who wants to work in harmony
with us to create an even more dynamic organization. Let's get busy doing
the work that is so important to all of us.

I do want to talk about one issue that I think our board will need to
address soon. As some of you know, we held an auction during our convention,
and it was very successful. I am proud of that effort and thank everyone who
contributed items and everyone who supported the auction by reaching in
their wallets and buying the merchandise we offered. 

That being said, I want to address an issue that has come up regarding the
auction. There was one item offered that included some contents that were
not in keeping with the family friendly nature of our organization's
convention. I want to acknowledge that including this item as a part of our
auction was not in keeping with our desire to make our convention welcoming
to families, and I think it makes sense to have our board develop some
guidelines that will eliminate the possibility that this kind of problem
will happen in the future.

Every organization that does important work has to navigate rough waters now
and again. We have been in the position of doing so recently, but we have a
powerful membership that is ready to move on and to do the work we joined
this organization to do. I count on your support as we do that, and I feel
sure that, together, we will accomplish anything we set our minds to.


Richard Payne,  President
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
937/829/3368
Rchpay7 at gmail.com <mailto: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.