[Nfbf-l] Fw: News Chief NFB Article

Tue Apr 7 16:57:50 UTC 2009

It is so great to see chapters doing activities to commemorate Louis 
Braille's birth. Very good Polk County.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kitty King" <joenkitty at earthlink.net>
To: <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 10:09 AM
Subject: [Nfbf-l] Fw: News Chief NFB Article


> Hello Gang:
>
> Here is an article, which appeared on the front page of our local News 
> Chief, regarding our Chapter Pancake Breakfast last Saturday.  I don't 
> know if the pictures are included or not.  However, there were several 
> pictures--one of Judy Black and John Christianson on the Braille writers 
> and Joe King, flipping pancakes.  Our theme was centered around Louis 
> Braille.  Ron Wills, one of our members, designed  a poster with the new 
> silver coin depicted in an enlarged form. We had these posted about the 
> room.    He, also, created a flyer explaining the life and impact Louis 
> Braille has had on the lives of the blind.  These were distributed to 
> everyone. There was much interest among our diners.    Hope you enjoy the 
> article.
>
>
> Kitty King
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Tom King
> To: Kitty King
> Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 4:16 PM
> Subject: News Chief NFB Article
>
>
>
>
> Fundraiser for the blind also a teaching opportunity
>
> By Donna Kelly
> News Chief staff
>
>
> Published: Monday, April 6, 2009 at 8:12 a.m.
>
>
> WINTER HAVEN - Eleven-year-old Addlyn Teague and her mother, Mel, watched 
> intently as Judy Black, who is legally blind, deftly punched the alphabet 
> and a line of numbers on paper with her Braille writer.
>
> The Teagues had just finished volunteering as servers at the National 
> Federation of the Blind Annual Pancake Breakfast at Beymer Memorial United 
> Methodist Church when they watched NFB member Black demonstrating how to 
> read and write in Braille, a system of raised dots that enable the blind 
> to read by touch.
>
> Teague - a third-grade teacher who presents a unit each year about Helen 
> Keller, Braille creator Louis Braille and sign language to her students at 
> Jewett School of the Arts - believes it is important for children to learn 
> about the challenges and accomplishments of the blind. She believes this 
> teaches them tolerance and appreciation.
>
> "I teach this so children can see how fortunate they are to have their 
> sight and to see how other people have to live," said Teague, who invited 
> Black to visit her classroom to visit with students.
>
> And from volunteering with NFB members, whose blindness ranges from those 
> with limited vision to some who can't see anything at all, Addlyn now 
> understands the message the organization is sending to the public.
>
> "It taught me that you can do many things even if you are blind," she 
> said, breaking into a huge smile.
>
> Her words made Joe King, president of the Polk Chapter of the NFB, grin, 
> too. The breakfast not only serves as a fundraiser - the group raised 
> approximately $1,200 Saturday - but as an opportunity to teach folks about 
> the reality of blindness.
>
> "The importance of our event is to make the public aware that blind people 
> are people. We are nothing to be shunned. We are nothing to be afraid of," 
> King said. "We have the same equal rights as the sighted people - we just 
> can't see."
>
> Legally blind since birth from retinopathy of prematurity, an abnormal 
> growth of blood vessels that can occur in babies born prematurely.
>
> "What a normal person can see at 125 feet, I see at 25 feet," King said to 
> describe his vision.
>
> While there were plenty of community volunteers on hand to help with the 
> cooking and serving Saturday, King flipped his share of pancakes, made 
> coffee and arrived at 6 a.m. to set up for the breakfast. Other NFB 
> members decorated and cleaned tables, distributed information, visited 
> with guests and gave demonstrations on the Braille writer.
>
> Many folks return to the breakfast each year to support the NFB mission 
> and enjoy the socializing. Laura and Harry Scull, winter visitors who 
> spend divide their time between Pennsylvania and Florida, have attended 
> the event five or six times. Laura Scull became acquainted with the NFB 
> when she met chapter secretary Kitty King at a low vision life skills 
> class at the Lighthouse for the Blind six years ago.
>
> "What brings us back is the friendship and to help the NFB so they can 
> continue the good work they're doing. And the food is very good, too," 
> Laura Scull said.
>
> The pancake breakfast and the annual White Cane Walk held each October 
> during Meet the Blind Month, are events designed to promote the 
> organization's motto, "Changing what it means to be blind."
>
> "We want people to know that blind people are very capable and can achieve 
> great success if given the right tools," said Kitty King, the chapter's 
> secretary and treasurer who is married to Joe King. "All we want is 
> opportunity, security and equality."
>
> In addition to meeting on the second Saturday of each month at Perkins 
> Restaurant on Cypress Gardens Boulevard to discuss issues pertaining to 
> the blind, the chapter advocates for the blind on the local, state and 
> national levels. In addition to receiving various types of training 
> through state and national conventions, representatives from local 
> chapters meet with state legislators in Tallahassee and members of 
> Congress in Washington each year. The chapter is about 40 members strong 
> and is open to anyone interested in issues pertaining to the blind. King 
> would like to see more people become actively involved.
>
> "We're out fighting for their rights. If we hadn't been out there, a lot 
> of things they have nowadays they wouldn't have," King said.
>
> King said NFB members were instrumental in a change in Social Security 
> rules that now allow the blind to earn a higher income while still 
> receiving benefits. The organization also fought for, and received, 
> Braille literacy rights that enable blind students to receive Braille 
> textbooks at the same time sighted students receive their books.
>
> The NFB is in the throes of a national Braille literacy campaign called 
> Braille Readers are Leaders that is designed to double the number of blind 
> children learning Braille by 2015. On March 26, the United States Mint 
> released of the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar, the first 
> coin ever minted with readable Braille characters. A portion of the 
> proceeds from the sale of the coin will benefit the Braille literacy 
> campaign.
>
> "They're trying to bring Braille back," said Black, who is proficient in 
> reading and writing in Braille with the Braille writer.
>
> Kitty and Joe King and Black agree that learning Braille is an advantage 
> for the blind.
>
> "Braille is the outlet for blind people for knowledge. If you learn 
> Braille, you can go on with your life because it is an opening door for 
> everything," Joe King said.
>
> For more information about the National Federation of the Blind, call Joe 
> or Kitty King at 863-293-5648.
>
> donna.kelly at newschief.com
>
>
> This story appeared in print on page A1
>
>
>
>
>
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