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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">The message is from</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">Emly,</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos"> and it is my</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">belief</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos"> that she worked hard to get this done</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos"> the reality is several programs across the state are in</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">competition</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos"> with each other.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">We will review and find ways to</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">offer services in the state several of you have reached out and hopefully some of those thoughts can provide a different</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">approach</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">You can feel free to contact</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos"> me off</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">list,</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos"> but this information is being provided to keep you informed.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">Hey guys,</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">I have some unfortunate news. Had a long discussion this morning with my manager, co-cordinator, and our program services manager about STEM2U. Based on the current sign up numbers and the deadlines to order the materials, we won't be able to have STEM2U in Ohio this year. We only have one kid registered after months of emailing, handing out flyers, and calling. My team members at work have put in hours outside of their job to help with marketing and planning, but we decided that the costs are far outweighing the benefits currently. My affiliate has also supported the program as much as possible, and I have plenty of volunteers from my NFB chapter lined up. It's not because of a lack of effort or energy on anybody's part, we just haven't had</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I> <FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">any</FONT></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos"> response for participation.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">There are several things that we talked about to do differently if we were to try again next year in Cincinnati. We would need to put a date on the calendar more than 6 months in advance to give ample time to talk it up. I think STEM2U could have been more successful if we combined it with another program this year. The pool of blind kids is relatively small, and they signed up for the bigger camp that the association for the blind is hosting. Transportation, of course, was the other issue. The parents that I talked to were unable or unwilling to transport the kids. The parent's meetup was meant to be an incentive for parents to come as well, but since our location is limited to weekdays, the timing conflifted with work hours. Getting parents on board is like pulling teeth. It's crazy.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">To be honest, I feel defeated and I'm very disappointed that Ohio won't have STEM2U this year. I really appreciate your wonderful help and support. I went into this knowing that it would be an uphill battle, but I think all the work and time this year will help the program in the future. </FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">Best,</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Aptos">Emily</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Aptos">--</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT FACE="Aptos">Emily Kiehl</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Aptos">813-394-2720</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Aptos">National Federation of the Blind of Ohio</FONT></SPAN></P>
<BR>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Aptos">Richard Payne, President</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Helvetica">National Federation of the Blind of Ohio</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Helvetica">937/829/3368</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><A HREF="mailto:Rchpay7@gmail.com"><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U></U></SPAN><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#467886" SIZE=2 FACE="Helvetica">Rchpay7@gmail.com</FONT></SPAN></U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><A HREF="http://www.nfbohio.org"><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U></U></SPAN><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#467886" SIZE=4 FACE="Aptos">www.nfbohio.org</FONT></SPAN></U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=4 FACE="Aptos">The National Federation of the Blind advances the lives of its members and all blind people in the United States. We know that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, becaus</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=4 FACE="Aptos">e low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. Our collective power, determination, and diversity achieve the aspirations of all blind people.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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