ASB Visions Newsletter

• March 2004
• December 2003
• September 2003
• June 2003
• February 2003
• October 2002
• June 2002
• March 2002
• November 2001
• July 2001
• November 2000
• June 2000
• July 1999

November 2001:

• Louis Braille Awards Honor the Outstanding
• Urban Gardening Program Receives Highest Honors
• RICB Celebrates Another Successful Year
• Charitable Gift Ideas for Friends of ASB:  Making the Most of Your Insurance
• Touch the Top of the World with Erik Weihenmayer

Louis Braille Awards Honor the Outstanding
Associated Services for the Blind (ASB) celebrated its 42nd Annual Louis Braille Awards Ceremony on October 24th at the Hyatt Regency Philadelphia, honoring those who have made significant contributions to blind and visually impaired individuals.

Patricia C. Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Associated Services for the Blind, commenced the ceremony by thanking everyone for supporting ASB and stressed how fortunate the association was for having such dedicated supporters.

The more than 180 attendees included City Councilman Thacher Longstreth, Chairman of Comcast, Ralph Roberts, retired Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Tasty Baking, Nelson G. Harris, SEPTA's General Manager, Jack Leary, Jr. and CEO of Wilmington Trust Company, Ted Cecala.

Suzanne Roberts, host of the CNN cable program "Seeking Solutions with Suzanne," served as Honorary Chairperson for the event. Roberts spoke about her personal struggle with vision loss, and her success with cataract surgery. She showed a video of her own cataract surgery to emphasize the ease and painlessness of the procedure.

Richard W. Nenno, Esq., accepted the Individual Louis Braille Award for his success in the Estate Planning field. A Vice President and Trust Counsel in the Private Client Advisory Services Department of Wilmington Trust Company, Wilmington, DE, Nenno thanked the people in his life who have been influential and who have provided him with opportunities in spite of his blindness. He urged the audience to take more time to care about people.

Pitney Bowes Office Systems received the Corporate Award for their Universal Copier System, which is the first copier system designed for people with visual impairments and other disabilities.

CN8 Comcast Network's Connie Colla presented the Special Recognition Award to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, for its "Form in Art" program. Accepting the award on behalf of the Museum was Carol Wisker, Manager of Accessible Programs. She thanked the staff, volunteers and many supporters of the program.

The event helped raise funds for ASB programs, which include Radio and Recording, Gateway Computer Technology Center, Rehabilitation and Services, Urban Gardening, Latino Outreach and Production and Custom Braille.

Urban Gardening Program Receives Highest Honors
Associated Services for the Blind's Urban Gardening program received first prize for Small Community Flower Gardens at the City Gardens Contest, which is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The ceremony took place on October 14 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The Urban Garden is a 900 square foot community site maintained by blind and visually impaired gardeners. Located in the Fairmount Park Horticulture Center, the garden offers a wide variety of fragrant flowers and plants displayed on raised beds for easy accessibility.

Peggy Garrett, who runs the garden program, accepted the award from Mrs. Greenthumbs, who often makes appearances on Regis and Kelly and The Rosie O'Donnell Show.

ASB's Urban Gardeners also won 10 ribbons in the Fall Harvest Show, presented by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Entries for these awards include plants grown by individuals or community garden clubs from Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs.

RICB Celebrates Another Successful Year
On Wednesday, August 22, 2001, the Radio Information Center for the Blind (RICB), a Division of Associated Services for the Blind, celebrated 27 years on the air with an open house and ceremony, honoring the work of staff and volunteers, and paying tribute to the radio station that brings the world into so many homes each day.

On August 19th, 1974, history was made when RICB made its first broadcast, reading The Philadelphia Inquirer "live" to 85 blind listeners via their special radio receivers. Today, RICB continues to broadcast news, topical information, and best selling books and magazines to more than 5,000 listeners.

A dedicated corps of volunteers broadcast live seven days a week. Longtime volunteers were honored at the 27th Anniversary celebration. Bob and Jean Gendall were recognized for hosting the station's "Good News, News" program. Bob has been the host of the program for 23 years, while Jean has been co-host for 22 years. Also recognized were Bill Flanagan for 24 years of service, and Bart Berolzheimer, for 23 years of service.

Charitable Gift Ideas for Friends of ASB:  Making the Most of Your Insurance
Many of us have one or more life insurance policies we bought for a variety of reasons -- an inheritance for loved ones, as a savings plan, to provide for young children, or to pay taxes and expenses to settle our estates. A life insurance policy can also be a convenient way to fund a meaningful charitable gift.

Check your policies and compare your coverage with your present needs. If you find that the original reason for buying the policy no longer exists, consider how you might use your life insurance to help Associated Services for the Blind provide needed services and programs for blind and visually impaired people. Significant tax savings can be available should you decide to transfer ownership of a paid-up policy to ASB, or if you continue to pay the premiums while naming ASB as the beneficiary.

Always consult with your insurance, legal, or tax professional before making any changes that might affect your financial and estate planning. For more information of a general nature regarding charitable gifts of life insurance, feel free to call our Development Office at (215) 627-0600, ext. 3236.

Touch the Top of the World with Erik Weihenmayer
Erik Weihenmayer, 32, is a climber, speaker, writer, world-class adventurer, acrobatic skydiver, scuba diver, long-distance biker, marathon runner, skier, mountaineer, and ice and rock climber. Erik recently became the first blind person to climb Mt. Everest. His future plans include climbing the 7 summits, the highest peak in each of the 7 continents. He is currently promoting his autobiography, "Touch the Top of the World," and spoke to us while in Philadelphia.

Q: What were the greatest challenges that you faced as a child, as a teenager and as an adult?
A: When I was a kid, after I went blind it was to figure out how to live as a blind person...to really accept it and not accept the world's expectations as to what I could do, but rather what I thought I could do as a blind person. Sometimes you have to really struggle and flop on your face a bunch of times before you figure out what you can do. You just work on it and figure out some tricky system, and then it is fine.

Q: Do you feel as though any progress has been made in the public's perception of the capabilities of blind people?
A: I'm not sure if I am more aware now, or whether there has been a tremendous amount of progress...I see blind people now doing more and more cool stuff. Blind people in the media a lot, blind people climbing mountains, blind scientists, blind sailors, etc.

Q: What led you to challenge yourself to reach such a high goal as Mt. Everest?
A: I just wanted to be in the world. I didn't want blindness to be the reason why I couldn't enjoy my life and do fun stuff, and do stuff with my friends. I was always looking for ways to fit into the world, so I started rock climbing at about 16, realizing I wasn't going to be the best basketball player anymore. Rock climbing was perfect...I could feel my way up the face instead of seeing my way up the face.

Q: What was the most rewarding part of your journey up Mt. Everest?
A: The rewarding part was being around great friends. One of your fears when you go blind is that you are going to be lonely and swept to the sidelines. So really being part of this awesome historic Everest climb was just an honor for me.

Disclaimer:  The information contained in these pages is provided as a courtesy by Associated Services for the Blind (ASB).  ASB expressly disclaims any representation or warranty express or implied concerning the accuracy, completeness or fitness for a particular purpose of the information.  Persons accessing this information assume full responsibility for the use of the information and understand and agree that ASB is not responsible or liable for any claim, loss or damage arising from the use of the information.  Reference to specific products, processes, or services do not constitute or imply recommendation or endorsement by the ASB.  The views and opinions of the information contributors do not necessarily state or reflect those of the ASB.