[Nfb-fundraising] Blind Volunteers at Work

[Everett Gavel]

Now here's something that achieves a few goals at the
same time.  It garnered some funds, but more
importantly, it walked the walk rather than just talked
the talk.  Great work.


>From the July issue of the Braille Monitor, in the In
Brief section:

Blind Volunteers at Work:

David Houck, director of the Federation Center of the
Blind, reports
as follows in the May 23, 2007, NFB of South Carolina
"Positive Note":

Saturday, May 19, was a beautiful sunny day with just a
slight breeze as
twenty-six Columbia Chapter blind volunteers made their
way throughout the day to the Second Annual Rosewood
Crawfish Festival. We did not come just to listen to
the bands, eat crawfish, or participate in the many
avenues of entertainment available (although many did
do just that). We came wearing our light green Crawfish
Festival staff T-shirts to work twenty-seven of the
thirty-six entry-gate volunteer slots. Imagine blind
individuals being the first point of contact for the
estimated 8,000 to 10,000 festival goers, taking
pre-sold festival tickets, receiving their $10 entry
fee (even making change whenever necessary), and
placing the entry wrist bands on their wrists. One
person at each gate was responsible for stamping the
arm of anyone leaving the festival but intending to
come back.

This was a great opportunity for the sighted public,
not to mention the Rosewood Merchants Association, who
put on the event, to see that blind people were doing
things normally accomplished by the sighted. Incoming
traffic was high throughout the day, and we received
compliments about our work. Those who participated in
last year's first Crawfish Festival were glad to come
back and volunteer again this year. As was the case
last year, the Federation Center was named a recipient
of a portion of the festival proceeds. In 2006 the
Federation Center received $1,000. The point is that to
many of us who are blind this was a demonstration of
what we know we can do; to the sighted public it was
proof that we really can do what we say we can.


Great work!
Everett
www.everettgavel.com