[stylist] 75 Days of Service

[Chris Parsons]

Hi all,

The NFB Community Service Division is getting ready to kick off a really exciting project that combines community service and writing, and I wanted to share the information with my fellow writers and personally invite you to participate. Below is an e-mail that was sent out about the project. Our first conference call will take place this Sunday at 7 PM Eastern. If you’d like to participate in the call, just dial (712) 432-0140 and enter access code 808277. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the project.

Are you interested in making a positive difference in your community while working to challenge common misconceptions about the blind? To celebrate the 75th year of the National Federation of the Blind(NFB), the National Federation of the Blind  Community Service Division, the NFB Community Service Division of California and the NFB Community Service Division of the   District of Columbia are proud to  present the 75 Days of Service project.  

The 75 Days of Service will start on April 12, which is the beginning  of National volunteer week and will end seventy-five  days later on June 26 (nine days prior to the start of the 75th convention of the National Federation of the Blind. The purpose of this project is to encourage and support Federationists in bringing about positive change to their communities. The purpose of this project is also  ,to show that blind people need  not always   be  the “takers” that  society might have us be, that we  can give of ourselves to society as well.   We believe that in so doing we can both model and   strengthen  our belief in the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind.

You can take part in this project individually or with your chapter or family, by engaging in a community service project, such as volunteering for a nonprofit organization, local church or school, or helping those in need in your neighborhood. Participants will be able to share ideas and receive support during bi-weekly conference calls every other Sunday, use the hashtag #NFB75Serve to tweet about their   community service activities, and will also have the opportunity to write about their experiences on the National Community Service Division’s official blog, nfbcommunityservice.wordpress.com. The  purpose of the blog is to  communicate to society that the blind  are active participants,  contributors and collaborators in society.   The  Blog is a outlet through which we  showcase by way of community Service/volunteerism what we believe in the Federation, that we as blind people can live the life we want and that blindness isn’t what holds us bak from doing so.  .

The first call will take place on Sunday, April 12, at 7 pm EST. The specific dates of each call are as follows:

Sunday, 4/12  (The Kick-off call): 7 pm Eastern/4 pm Pacific 
Sunday, 4/26: 7pm Eastern/4 pm Pacific.
Sunday, 5/10: 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific.
Sunday, 6/7: 7pm Eastern/pm Pacific.
Sunday, 6/21: 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific.

To be a   part of this exciting project and get more information (call-in details, updates, reminders and more),, you can sign up for the Community Service Division list serve  by  going to: http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/community-service_nfbnet.org. Facebook users can  do the same by connecting with   the Community Service division at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205759772877055 <https://www.facebook.com/groups/205759772877055>.

We Hope you are as excited  to get started as we are to get this going!
  Yours in the  Movement,
The 75 Days of Service   Leadership Team.
Co-Chairs: Libra Robinson and Darian Smith

Chris Parsons
Vice President, National Federation of the Blind Community Service Division