[Nfbnet-members-list] National Federation of the Blind Congratulates Blind Driver Experience Participants

[Freeh, Jessica]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org



National Federation of the Blind Congratulates
Blind Driver Experience Participants



Baltimore, Maryland (June 24, 2011): The National 
Federation of the Blind (NFB), the oldest and 
largest nationwide organization of blind people, 
today congratulated the thirty people who won the 
honor of participating in the Blind Driver 
Experience.  On Tuesday, July 5, from 1–6:00 
p.m., as part of the NFB National Convention in 
Orlando, the winners will get the 
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ride in the 
Blind Driver Challenge™ car equipped with 
nonvisual technology (the same car that was 
driven on the famed Daytona International Speedway on January 29, 2011).



The participants of the Blind Driver Experience 
will be driven in the official Blind Driver 
Challenge™ vehicle by Mark Riccobono, executive 
director of the NFB Jernigan Institute, and the 
first blind person to drive a street vehicle in public.



The Blind Driver Experience is an initiative of 
the NFB Imagination Fund, which supports the 
education, technology, and research projects of 
the NFB Jernigan Institute, as well as programs 
conducted by the fifty-two affiliates and over 
seven-hundred local chapters of the Federation.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: “We greatly 
appreciate the hard work of our Blind Driver 
Experience participants, as well as our other 
Imagination Fund contributors.  With their help, 
we are able to create innovative research, 
training, education, and technology programs that 
improve the lives of the blind and move us closer 
to our ultimate goal of full integration into society on a basis of equality.”



Parnell Diggs, chairman of the Imagination Fund, 
said: “We congratulate our Blind Driver 
Experience participants, and thank them for a job 
well done.  It is vital that we raise the funds 
we need to operate the programs of the National 
Federation of the Blind.  Those who registered to 
be Imaginators and raised at least $1,000 by June 15 have our gratitude."



The top ten individuals in overall dollars raised 
as of June 15 were automatically selected to 
participate in the Blind Driver Experience.  The 
remaining twenty spots were drawn at random from 
the pool of individuals who raised at least 
$1,000 for the Imagination Fund by June 15, and 
who plan to be in attendance at the 
convention.  Each individual winner is invited to 
bring three guests, and if for some reason a 
winner cannot participate, the ride is transferable.



The Blind Driver Experience winners are listed below:



Top Ten
    * John Paré (MD)
    * Mary Ellen Jernigan (MD)
    * Parnell Diggs (SC)
    * Jack & Pat Munson (CA)
    * Patti Gregory-Chang (IL)
    * Ann-Marie Laney (MD)
    * Joe Ruffalo (NJ)
    * Dwight Sayer (FL)
    * Lindsay Adair (TX)
    * Scott LaBarre (CO)

Eleven through thirty were drawn and announced 
Wednesday evening on ThruOurEyes with Joe Ruffalo.


    * Ever Lee Hairston (CA)
    * C. Edwin Vaughan (CA)
    * Denise Avant (IL)
    * Gary & Debbie Wunder (MO)
    * Kim Diggs (SC)
    * William Jacobs (MD)
    * Debra Canty (SC)
    * Dan Burke (MT)
    * Carl & Mindy Jacobsen (NY)
    * Patricia Maurer (MD)
    * Barbara Pierce (OH)
    * Kathleen Byrd (NM)
    * Anthony Cobb (MD)
    * Garrick Scott (GA)
    * Dr. & Mrs. Capps (SC)
    * Mark Riccobono (MD)
    * Ed Morman (MD)
    * Julaine Arient-Rollman (SD)
    * Kayleigh Joiner (TX)
    * Kimberly Flores (TX)



For more information about the Blind Driver 
Experience, please visit 
<http://www.blinddriverchallenge.org/>www.blinddriverchallenge.org.





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About the National Federation of the Blind



With more than 50,000 members, the National 
Federation of the Blind is the largest and most 
influential membership organization of blind 
people in the United States.  The NFB improves 
blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, 
research, technology, and programs encouraging 
independence and self-confidence.  It is the 
leading force in the blindness field today and 
the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 
the NFB opened the National Federation of the 
Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and 
training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.


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