[PACapitalChapter] Capital Chapter updates

[Jason Polansky]

Hello all,

I just wanted to send out some updates regarding what we accomplished in State College last weekend and prepare us for next weekend's meeting. 

I believe most of you know that various leaders and members of the NFB of PA met in State College to plan for our BELL programs, as well as discuss matters related to the affiliate. 
Carla McQuillan, President of the NFB of Oregon, flew in and gave us much valuable insight as to the planning and execution of our BELL programs. 
Our BELL program will be held during the first week of August at the Market Square Presbyterian Church, the same place it was held last year. 
This year, we plan to have more blind role models with the students during the week, and we believe that this will be very beneficial for the students in their learning. 
Lizzy Muhammad, who is a recent graduate of Bryn Mawr College and former president of the Pennsylvania Association of Blind Students will be the lead teacher. I will plan to come in and help out in any way that I can as well, at least for a day or two, and Carole will also be helping out during most of the length of the program.
For field trip ideas, we thought of the Whitaker Center and City Island. 

Now on to next week's meeting and plans for the chapter moving forward: 
We will be meeting next Saturday Mar 21, in the community center at the Camp Hill Giant, and affiliate president Lynn Heights will be attending our meeting.
Since we are the chapter in PA's capital city, I would like to see us form some connections with various legislators in the PA General Assembly. This is not an area where I have a ton of experience at the moment, but there are several bills that the affiliate is working to pass, mainly revolving around parental rights and ensuring that blind parents cannot have their children taken away on the basis of their blindness. 
I plan to talk to Justin Salisbury, who is a federationist who recently moved to Philly and works for Lynn, on strategies for accomplishing this; as he has been communicating with the representatives in his area. 

Additionally, I would like to see us develop more of a presence and overall greater awareness throughout the community, so that we can increase our membership.
So that being said, I would encourage all of you to start brainstorming ways of which we can accomplish this. I am very excited to be the driving force behind building our chapter. I know that I have a lot to learn, as this is my first time taking up such an initiative, but I wholeheartedly believe that we will do great work in the coming months.

If you are not able to attend our meeting in person, you are most certainly welcome to dial in to the conference call. 

My Best, 
Jason Polansky