Board Minutes

National Federation of the Blind of Utah

June 2022

Board Meeting

 

National Federation of the blind of Utah

www.nfbutah.org

801 Dash 631 Dash 8108

 

“You can live the life you want; blindness does not hold you back!”

 

June 1  , 2022

7:30 – 9:08 PM.

 

2 motions were made and passed unanimously.

  1. Donate $1,600 to funds, kids camp and scholarship reception.
  2. Give half of the trust bequest re recently received, which equals $14,000 of the $28,000.

 

 

Roll Call:

NFB of Utah Board     of Directors:

president –                              Everette Bacon:           present

1st Vice President –     Cheralyn Johnson:      Not Present

2nd Vice President –    Karl Smith:                  out of country

Treasurer –                              Mark Turley:   Present

Secretary –                              Barbie Elliott: Present

Board Members:

Hellen Eckman:          Present

Willie Black:   Present

Laura Vincent:            Present

Ken Duke:       Not Present

Ned Lindholm:            Present

The general public was invited. Jerry Nealey, James Bybee, Sarah Herb, Zach Ledford, and Cheryl Hayborne were in attendance.

  1. Welcome and Introductions:
  1. See above.

 

  1. National News updates from Presidential release and President’s Notebook:
  1. An amendment proposal to the constitution regarding the code of conduct has been put forward by the board to be voted on at national convention. Please review it before convention to make an informed vote.
  2.  If you want to talk to the code of conduct committee send an email to codefeedback@nfb.org You can make a virtual or an in-person appointment to meet with them at convention.
  3. A focus group is being put together for a priority steering including the blind people’s museum and other priorities for the NFB.
  4. Every state has been asked to assign a historian. Everette has asked Janice Spencer and Sharon Smith to head this up and go through the many files in the NFB cabinets. The target date for the museum is sometime in 2025
  5. There is a survey for the pac plan. www.nfb.org/pac
  6. There were some significant passings of well-known members this month including Genie Massey and Joe Ruffalo and others.
  7. We are still collecting data on being denied uber rides because of blindness guide dogs and white canes.

 

  1. National Convention updates:
    1. Online registration is closed for pre-registration. 38 preregistered from Utah with 2 more planning to attend. Kasey Quinn, Lindsey Baum, Elliott children, Kada Frampton, and Sarah Turley are first time attendees.
    2. Barbie Elliott is collecting banquet tickets so we can sit together with affiliate friends.
    3. If you want to go it’s not too late, talk with Everette to learn more about the stipend etc. The Chariton still has rooms available at the NFB convention rate for one more week.
    4. You can still register virtually to receive virtual door prizes; they will be real prizes but available to those joining virtually.
    5. Crowd compass will still be used to help people attend sessions.
    6. Masks will be worn at all meetings to protect all members including those with comorbidities.
  2. All convention attendees will be required to provide a negative covid-19 test within 72 hours before convention and send the results to testresults@nfb.org. At home and lab tests will be accepted. Send pictures of at home tests and results for lab tests ahead to testresults@nfb.org or get tested at convention. If you wait to get tested at the convention you will have to wait in lines and if it is positive you will have to quarantine in the hotel rather than in your home.
    1. Chapters can hold a banquet at home but the affiliate will not be reimbursing it since it is an in-person convention this year.

 

  1. Updates on Resolutions:
  1. Pharmacy Resolution: Everette has been working with a member of a pharmacy board and has requested time to present on June 28th regarding making prescriptions accessible. Everette would like to have some of the members join this meeting in support if this will happen.
  2. Student rights resolution: We will work hard on this resolution after convention before school starts in August. If anyone has ideas let Everette know.

 

  1.  Treasurers Report:
  1. Mark is still working to finalize state convention costs and donations. It looks like convention cost somewhere around 11 thousand dollars and we gained somewhere around 13 thousand dollars.

 

  1. Donations to our National Headquarters:
  1. All 4 funds have been around $1,000 each. Scholarship breakfast will be open to 2020, 2021, and 2022 winners, and will not be a breakfast, but there will be light refreshments served.
  2. Willie suggested $1000 per fund, and $400 for kids’ camp and $400 for the scholarships. Mark amended that to giving $250 for scholarships and kids camp. Willie suggested 200 for kids’ camp and 400 for scholarships since there are 2 Utah participants. Willie made a motion to give $1,000 to each of the 4 NFB funds SUN, PAC, White Cane, and Jernigan, and $400 to scholarships, and $200 to NFB Kids Camp. Barbie seconded it, and it passed unanimously.
  3. We received a request from a trust. We have been requested to give 50% to national when we receive major donations. We received $28,000 this year. Everette would like to ask the board to make a motion to give! $14,000 at national convention. Willie made a motion to give $14,000, Hellen seconded it, and it passed unanimously.

 

  1. Braille Repair update:
  1. Sarah is excited that they received $32,000 when they wanted $30,000. Which was enough donations to have the training here in Utah. 7 of the 16 participants are blind. The training will occur this month. If anyone is still interested, contact Sarah about being placed on a wait list. Sarah said we can still register broken brailers for repair.

 

  1. Bell Academy Virtual 2022 and Reunion event with Utah Library July 14 at DSBVI:
  1. We have 9 out of 100 national participants from Utah participating in the virtual academy. Katie is working with mentors. Let Katie know if you are available to be a mentor.
  2. Katiechevalier88@gmail.com
  3. Bell Academy reunion at the Utah Library for the blind on July 14th on Thursday in the morning from 9 to 1. It will have an ocean’s theme. lfneson@utah.gov if you are interested.  Or Katiechevalier88@gmail.comBarbie and others have been asked to read to the children.

 

  1. Chapter, Division, and Group reports:
  1. Willie and Barbie shared the Weber-Davis report. Making games accessible for May meeting was fun. June meeting will be a birthday-unbirthday barbecue. More information will be coming soon.
  2. Ned gave the Salt Lake chapter update. May was supposed to be in sugarhouse park except it got rained out so they held it at DSBVI instead. June will be a fund raiser at Café Rio. They will not hold an official meeting in June because Ned is getting married on the regular chapter meeting date, and some chapter members including Ned will be busy on the 4th Saturday. They are planning a meeting in July, and a barbecue in August.
  3. Laura shared the Utah Valley Chapter report. May was about registering to vote. June meeting is next Tuesday June 14th. The chapter is hoping to share art work in local carnivals this summer. They will hold a barbecue in August.
  4. Hellen shared the red rocks chapter report. They will hold their next meeting on Tuesday at 1 in the afternoon. They have 7 participants attending national convention. They are having Carina present at an upcoming chapter meeting. They are planning their southern Utah barbecue on Friday October 7th as part of blind equality and achievement month.
  5. Sarah shared the parents’ division report. They are planning a June meeting for either Wed. June 22 or 29 at the natural history museum. They may host banquet parties around the state. Parents are so excited to get together again. Sarah’s brother paid for the games that were made accessible there were about 20 games and they are available at around $2 over cost and are accessible. Let Sarah know if you want one.
  6. Laura gave the Spanish division meeting. They had a set of twin blind brothers who have a band with multiple genres come and share their story. They also talked about beep ball, goalball, and other sports. They want to hold a fun meeting to play some of these games and everyone else is invited. Their next meeting is on June 30.
  7. Everette gave the at large chapter report. Rolland Allan will be presenting and Everyone is invited to come next Wednesday June 8th to the at large zoom meeting. And Chris Danielson is coming to present about national convention on June 10th at 1 on the DSBVI zoom line. An email is coming soon with meeting information.
  8. Zach gave the student report. They have a national representative coming to their June meeting.
  9. Guide Dog Users group. They will change their meeting date to no longer conflict with the Spanish Division. They have a meeting planned in June to talk about purchasing accessories for your guide dog.

 

  1. Public comment:
  1. Jerry mentioned that the weekend before convention is a holiday weekend and was concerned that labs for testing for covid-19 will be closed. Everette suggested taking an at home test and sending an email of the picture of the result of the test totestresults@nfb.org. To order free at home tests go to https://www.covid.gov/tests. Jerry asked about enforcement. It will be an honor system.
  2. Willie mentioned that UTA will be holding an ADA celebration in late June. He will send out the flyer.
  3. Everette mentioned that the disabled rights convention is also holding a meeting in July and Ned is speaking.
  4. James wanted to know how many attendants we had at state convention. We had 170 in person and 10 to 15 on zoom.
  5. Mark mentioned that James Om beg who wrote Freedom for the Blind passed away. His funeral will be in mid-June. Ron Gardner will be speaking. Ron reached out to Everette about going to the memorial service representing the NFB of Utah. He will not be attending convention any longer in order to attend. Everette authorized $500 for Ron, Jan, and Norm to attend the funeral. Hellen has good memories of James and his wife when they lived in Alaska.

 

  1. October/November leadership seminar:
  1. Look at calendars and let Everette know what dates are best.
  2. There are 5 weekends in October, plan blind Equality and achievement month activities after we plan dates for the leadership seminar.

 

  1. Other Business and Adjourn:
  1. The board meeting was adjourned at 9:08 PM.