The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future.
Minute Messages from the Movement
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
Minute Messages from the Movement
Melissa Riccobono, President
Phone number 410-235-3073
Follow us on Twitter @NFBMD
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Note from the President
Thank you to all who provided such positive feedback regarding these One Minute Messages! Please keep your comments and ideas for content coming! Also, thank you to Mark Riccobono for helping with the template for these messages. It certainly makes my job easier!
I have several things to report this week. In the future, I will try to make these messages a bit shorter, but I believe all of this information is extremely important, so please bear with me!
Messages
· Delmarva election results: I am please to announce the results of the Delmarva Chapter elections. President, Danielle Earl, vice president, Patti Atkins, Secretary, Selina Johnson, Tressurer, Muffin Copper, Board Position 1, Arthur Copper (Husband), Board Position 2, Frances Walls. Congratulations to all of those reelected, and elected for the first time. Also, thank you for such a warm, inviting, and energetic chapter meeting. The Delmarva Chapter is doing wonderful things, and I know this recently elected board will continue the important work of this chapter.
· Spring Raffle; have you purchased your tickets yet? Our spring raffle is well underway. Thank you to all of those who have purchased tickets, and those who are selling tickets. The demand has been great so far this year. Please help us sell all 1000 tickets. For those who don’t know, here are the spring raffle details.
· All tickets are $5 each.
· Each ticket has a 3 digit number, which is good throughout the entire month of May—so you have 31 chances to win!
· If your number is drawn on a Sunday through a Friday, you will win $50.
· If your number is drawn on a Saturday, you will win $100.
· Numbers may be drawn more than once.
· If you sell 35 tickets, you will receive $50 either at the National Convention, or in the month of July, as a thank you for your hard work and dedication to our movement.
· If you would like to purchase and/or sell tickets, please contact me as soon as possible. Let’s raise some money for the NFB of Maryland!
· BIG BABY NEWS! This just in! Melissa Treaster, former president of the Tricounty Chapter of the NFBMD, and her husband, James, joyfully welcomed their son, Connor Treaster, yesterday evening, March 11. Connor weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces, and was 20.1 inches long. He certainly took his time before making an appearance, but all seems to be going well for everyone… Aside from the fact that I don’t believe any of the family has gotten much sleep in the past few days. Congratulations to everyone in the Treaster family!
· Join Team NFBMD and Become an Imaginator!: As you may have heard in the Presidential Release, Uncle Whozit is counting on you! The National Federation of the Blind has a goal to raise $300000 for the Imagination Fund by May 31, 2014. The Imagination Fund not only supports NFB Jernigan Institute programs, it also helps fund special programs and projects in state affiliates. Raising money for the Imagination Fund means finding other peoples’ money! If you want to support the NFB personally, please consider joining the PAC Plan (More about the PAC Plan next week!) If you want to be an Imaginator and raise money for the Imagination Fund as part of Team NFBMD, , please reach out to your family, friends, business contacts, etc. and tell them why the National Federation of the Blind is important to you. Please ask them for a donation.
· How do they donate? People can make a donation to Team NFBMD by visiting https://app.mobilecause.com/public/social/9716 As a member of Team NFBMD, please feel free to visit this page yourself and use the links provided to ask for donations from your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. You can also send a customized email to your contacts directly from this page and encourage them to donate. If you are asking someone for a donation in person, you can have him or her text the word Maryland to 71777. Or, donors can send a check made out to NFB with Imagination Fund Maryland in the memo line to 200 East Wells St.; Baltimore, MD 21230. The NFBMD has a goal to raise $7500 in commemoration of the upcoming 75th anniversary of the national Federation of the Blind. This seems like a large number, but I know we will be able to achieve this goal if we all participate as one team and reach out to those we know to ask them for their help. (Please note: As of now, the NFBMD page shows a picture of me and my family. It also currently has text which is more personal to me. In the next few minutes, I will be putting in a request to have the text changed, and I plan to take a picture this Saturday which will be posted on our page. Please do not hesitate to get the word out about our goal before these changes are made, but if you feel more comfortable sending out a message after our page is completely up to date, that is fine as well. I would guess the page should be completely changed by Monday afternoon, March 17th.)
· If you would like to have the NFB Jernigan Institute create a personal Imaginator page for you, please send an email to imaginationfund@nfb.org
· Cool Chemestry: On Wednesday, April 23, students from Notre
Dame of Maryland University will be conducting two chemistry activities for blind elementary school students. These activities will take place at the Jernigan Institute (200 East Wells Street; Baltimore) from 1-4 PM. Students will work in very small groups to explore chemical reactions. There is no cost for this event, but space is limited! If you would like to sign your child up for this event, please get in touch with me so I can include him or her on my list. This is a unique opportunity, and one I’m sure many children would enjoy.
· This from Marsha Dyer: To Federation members and friends who receive the Braille Monitor and/or Future Reflections magazine: if any of your contact information (address, telephone, email address, etc.) has changed or is about to change, please send an email to nfbpublications@nfb.org so that we may update your information in our main mailing database. This request applies especially to those of you who receive either publication via email. Thank you.
· The following two items come from Mark Riccobono:
· Did you know that one of our members from Missouri has started a change.org petition
· Odin Mobile is a wireless provider dedicated to offering cellular service to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The company offers a variety of cellular phones, including the ODIN VI—a basic mobile phone that is accessible to individuals who are blind. This phone is a great choice for people who just want to make calls, manage contacts, text-message, and perform other basic tasks.
Odin Mobile also sells the Nexus from Google, a top-of-the-line smartphone which offers the latest in Android accessibility. Anyone who purchases this smartphone receives one-on-one tutorials, as well as special customer support. The tutorials and support are provided by an expert in Android, who is also blind.
With monthly airtime rates as low as $10 per month, Odin Mobile has plans to fit various budgets and needs. Customers also receive a free month of service for every friend they refer to Odin Mobile. Perhaps best of all, when a customer mentions that they are an NFB member, he or she will receive a special 5 percent discount on Odin Mobile talk and text plans. The NFB will receive a percentage of the revenue that Odin Mobile generates from NFB members, so you help the NFB, as well.
Be sure to check out Odin Mobile at www.odinmobile.com or call at 855-217-9459. Also, you can follow Odin Mobile on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/odinmobilephones.
If you would like to speak with the general manager of Odin Mobile, he can be reached at 301-363-4306
Coming Next Week:
· Information on our next NFBMD Board meeting
· Information on a Diabetes seminar sponsored by the Sligo Creek Chapter and DORS
· A recap of Basket Bingo
· What is the NFB PAC Plan?
· Links to audio and Word versions of the presidential report from state convention; sorry, I couldn’t make this happen this week!
· Information on NFB of Maryland email listserves
Dates to Remember
· March 14, 2014: Basket Bingo (Hope to see you there!)
· March 15: Maryland Parents of Blind Children annual breakfast and bake auction; 200 East Wells Street, 9-12
· April 5: NFBMD Board Meeting, 10-1 (Columbia, Maryland)
· April 23: Cool Chemestry for blind elementary school students; 200 East Wells Street, 1-4 PM.
· April 24-25, 2014: 2014 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium, "Disability Rights in the 21st Century: Creative Solutions for Achieving the Right to Live in the World”
· June 4: Diabetes Seminar (More details next week!)
· June 8, 2014: TENTATIVE--NFB 6 Dot Dash—A 6K Race to Advance Braille Literacy (Baltimore, Maryland)
· July 1-6, 2014: NFB National Convention (Orlando, Florida)
· July 28-August 8: National Federation of the Blind Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) Programs; More details coming soon!
· August 1, 2014: 7:00 PM NFBMD Crab Feast (Baltimore, Maryland)
· September 9: Web Accessibility Day at NFB Jernigan Institute
· October 15-17: NFB Technology Train the Trainers
· November 14-16, 2014: NFB of Maryland Annual Convention (Towson, Maryland)
Please consider making a donation today to help us build a future full of opportunities. You can also donate your vehicle or support us by giving your old household goods to our GreenDrop program.
To submit items for possible inclusion in this weekly email, please send suggestions to President@nfbmd.org Be sure to include any related URLs that might provide further information.