[Nfbf-l] Fw: News Chief NFB Article

Tue Apr 7 20:08:25 UTC 2009

Sherrill, Not for nothing, but that sounds like a wonderful

idea!! Your friend in the cause, Kirk

 Harmon
1031 Lenmore CT.
Orlando, FL. 32812

Phone:
Office: 1-407-380-3371
Cell: 1-407-473-2176
BVA/FR
District Director
E. central Division

BVA/FR
Fundraising coordinator
911 cell phone  donations Program

City of Orlando
Mayor's Advisory Counsel
Counsel member

"Blinded Veteran's Helping Blinded Veteran's"
"Smiles are nothing more than 30 second vacations"!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sherrill O'Brien" <sherrill.obrien at verizon.net>
To: "NFB of Florida Listserv" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 3:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] Fw: News Chief NFB Article

> Hi Kitty and Joe,
>
> This is great puhblicity for your chapter and the NFB.  What a wonderful
> fund raiser you put on every year.
>
> If you don't mind, I'd love to take part of this newspaper article,
> especially the part about Braille and the coin, and send it to our 
> national
> Braille Coordinators list.  Everyone sends articles pertinent to this 
> year's
> Braille  campaign, and yours should be included.  But I'll wait for the
> green light from you before going ahead.
>
> Sherrill
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
> Behalf Of Kitty King
> Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 11:18 AM
> To: nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Nfbf-l] Fw: News Chief NFB Article
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Kitty King
> To: nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 10:09 AM
> Subject: 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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