The New Jersey Council of the Blind’s mission is to strive for the betterment of the blind and visually impaired community. The purpose of this publication is to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas, opinions and information that concern blind and visually impaired people.
The NJCB Chronicle is also available on Newsline. If you do not have a Newsline subscription, contact Reader Services at the New Jersey Talking Book and Braille Center at (800) 792-8322 to get signed up for a Newsline subscription. Four quarterly newsletters are sent to members free of charge by E-mail. You may obtain the current and back issues of the Chronicle and other information from our web site www.njcounciloftheblind.org. Feel free to write us at njcounciloftheblind@gmail.com.
The New Jersey Council of the Blind (NJCB) is a 501 (c) 3 corporation. Much appreciated tax-deductible donations may be sent to the Treasurer of NJCB.
The NJCB officers are: President Frank Schack (973) 595-0116; Vice President, Joyce Sowa (732) 596-9675; Secretary Joyce Schack (973) 595-0116; Treasurer, Bernie Zuckerman of 32 Judson Street, Unit 7B, Edison, NJ 08837, and (732) 221-5362.
By the time you read this it will already be spring with warmer weather. Everyone is anxious to get out of the house to enjoy this nice weather, so I hope you have put on your calendar to attend the next NJ Council of the Blind meeting on April 27th in Mercer County. We need every individual who wants the Council to continue to come out, we need your input and suggestions. We are pleased to welcome John Reiff from the NJ Commission for the Blind as our guest speaker. As I stated last October I did not want to serve as President of the Council but agreed to remain as President for one more year. The end of my term will be here before you know it and the organization needs to find someone to fill this position. We are also asking for volunteers to serve on the nominating committee. Anyone interested in being a part of this committee please contact me. We are proposing two important changes to NJCB By-Laws. Please see in this newsletter the proposed amendments. They will be up for discussion at the April meeting. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone on April 27th.
Frank Schack
The April quarterly meeting will be held on Saturday, April 27th at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Ewing. We held our April quarterly meetings at this location in the past. The meeting will begin promptly at 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm. A Pizza lunch will be from 12:00 pm until 1:00 pm. A cost of $5.00 per person is requested to cover the cost of the food and drinks. The address is 1985 Pennington Road in Ewing. Find directions on page 5. No conference call connection will be available for this meeting, so it is important for you to attend. Please RSVP by April 22nd to Mustafaa Shabazz at 609-789-8173 leave message as to attendance so we know how many to expect for the meeting and lunch.
John Reiff will be our guest speaker at the April Quarterly meeting. He has been with CBVI since 1973, have worked as a Vocational Evaluator, Vocational Counselor, Independent Living supervisor, manager of the Joseph Kohn Training Center and manager of both the Commission’s Northern and the Central Region offices. He has a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and 46 years of day to day learning experience with and among blind people and professionals in the field. He firmly believes that the single greatest resource the agency has is its consumers followed by its staff.
Springtime Greeting from NJBCA!
We have welcomed several new participants to NJBCA since the last newsletter. This is wonderful news that we wanted to share. It does seem that groups such as ours and others are having a difficult time having other like-minded (and sight-impaired) people join us. Just a word of encouragement- what we do is important. Please continue talking with others- sighted or not, about your individual chapters and what each of them does. Believe me, it will help someone!
The next NJBCA Ladies Auxiliary spaghetti dinner is going to be Saturday, April 6th from 4-7 pm. $12 for the all you can eat dinner includes salad, bread, spaghetti, Meatballs and/or sausage, a dessert item and coffee, tea, soft drink. Please call the NJBCA office if you need further information (732-291-0878).
The 14th Annual NJBCA Gift Auction will be held Friday, June 7th. If you are interested in attending, please give the NJBCA office a call (732-291-0878). You can ask for Stacey, she will explain all about the auction and how to obtain tickets.Since the weather will be turning soon, our garden program will begin again. The GoSprouts organization and the Navesink Garden club will be visiting in the next few weeks to start planning all the delicious and nutritious goodies we are looking to grow.
Remember- small amounts add up to something bigger!
Stacey Stefanski
Peace and wellbeing to everyone from members of MCAB. At our February Monthly meeting Eve Posner, OrCam authorized distributor, 973-820-5090 and Tara Layfield, Area Sales Manager, 706-716-3406, representing the business group ORCAM gave a great presentation on the device.
The OrCam is a very high-tech, state of the art technology device, like a wearable camera, very light weight – less than 1 ounce, attached with a magnet on the side of glasses, therefore hands are free. The device takes pictures of what is in front of you and converts it into words. Won’t do any video, only audio information which will be transmitted to the owner through a little speaker placed on the back of the ear. If you can face a product with the OrCam, it will read it.
The OrCam is connected to Wi-Fi and it will download the software that is available. It comes also preloaded with a lot of information about products. Can serve people with vision loss, legally blind, as well as those who are fully blind. The person can interact/discuss with the machine and it can be customized to one’s needs. First thing is to hold the material to be read or recognized in front of your nose, for 3 seconds, or to point to the reading material, tap it with the finger. The camera doesn’t read handwriting or script, but it can read even small print. The reading distance is 20 feet away and a building can be identified within 4-5 feet. Besides reading it has facial recognition capability and tells how many people are around the person. It can store approximately 100 human faces. Other than human faces OrCam can also identify money and colors. The stopping of the audio is controlled by all five fingers in front of the face. The battery that comes with it announces how much is charged and can be recharged in 1.5 -2 hours without interruption. The cost is $4,500 for the latest generation of the OrCam. There is 4% interest for NJ residents if the payment is made up to 3 years.
The website is www.orcam.com and www.GETOrcam.com (information taken from MCAB’s February Minutes prepared by member Camelia Rhodes).
Being that MCAB is hosting NJCB’ Quarterly Meeting, I look forward to seeing everyone on April 27, 12-4 PM, at the Trinity United Methodist Church at 1985 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ. Cross street is Carlton Ave.
Best regards
Submitted by Mustafaa Shabazz, MCAB President
Our deadline to submit application for our 2019-20 NJCB Scholarship is fast approaching. If you want to be considered for an award, please visit our website at njcb.org and review the questions and answers for the requirements. The deadline is May 1. Winners will receive their award at our July Quarterly Meeting to be held at Camp Happiness.
Our Current By Laws need an update. Here is what we are proposing:
First Amendment change.
Current:
ARTICLE VIII - DISSOLUTION
If at any time the Corporation shall disband, it shall be decided by a three-fourths (3/4) majority of the total membership of the local chapters and the members-at-large. Upon dissolution of the Corporation the assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to charitable purposes or
corresponding to any future federal tax code or shall be distributed to the federal, state or local government for a public
purpose.
Recommending change to:
ARTICLE VIII - DISSOLUTION
If at any time the Corporation shall disband, it shall be decided by a three-fourths (3/4) majority of the total membership of the local chapters and the members-at-large. Upon dissolution of the Corporation the assets shall be distributed to the American Council of the Blind and/or an organization with similar mission to the NJCB. Such organizations must be of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to charitable purposes or corresponding to any future federal tax code.
Second Amendment change
Current:
ARTICLE IX - AMENDMENTS
Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed at any meeting of the General Assembly and shall thereafter be submitted in writing to the local chapters for consideration at their home meeting. A two-thirds (2/3) favorable vote at the next regular meeting shall be required for passage of an amendment.
Recommending change to:
ARTICLE IX - AMENDMENTS
Amendment(s) to the Constitution may be proposed at any meeting of the General Assembly. A two-thirds 2/3 majority vote is required for said amendment to move forward. The proposed amendment(s) shall be published a least once prior to the next general meeting whereby the reading will take place prior to a vote. A three-fourths (3/4) favorable vote at the next regular meeting shall be required for passage of an amendment(s).
Mr. Alexander Scott Kaiser is beginning a new advocacy group to support sighted, partial or totally blind individuals along with those who have other disabilities. Meetings will be held by conference call on the first Friday of the month (except in July when the meeting will be held on the last Friday, from 9:00 PM EST, until 11:00 PM EST starting on Friday May 3, 2019. The conference phone number is (712) 831-0000 followed by pin 999666 pound. We hope to hold a face-to-face organization development meeting in August 2019. To assist in developing this organization, contact Me, by Contracted Unified English Braille snail-mail, by phone call, by text message, and, by E-Mail. My Postal address is:
Mr. Alexander Scott Kaiser
721 Dream Court
Toms River, New Jersey 08755-1557
My E-Mail address is MISTER.ALEXANDER.SCOTT.KAISER.I.1.0.3.0.1.9.9.0.99@GMX.US. My Phone numbers are:
IPHONE: +1(848) 205-0208
Text Now: +1(848) 456-7601
Google Voice: +1(848) 999-9756, And, Home: +1(732) 901-6859.
I can be text messaged between the hours of 08:00 PM, EST, And, 02:00 AM, EST, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 09:00 PM, EST, And, 03:00 AM, EST, on Saturdays, and, between the hours of 04:00 PM, EST, And, 10:00 PM, EST, on Sundays, I can be called on the phone between the hours of 07:00 PM, EST, And, 01:00 AM, EST, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 09:00 PM, EST, And, 03:00 AM, EST, on Saturdays, and, between the hours of 12:00 PM, EST, And, 07:00 PM, EST, on Sundays, and, I can be E-Mailed between the hours of 08:00 PM, EST, And, 03:00 AM, EST, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 07:00 PM, EST, And, 04:00 AM, EST, on Saturdays, and, between the hours of 02:00 PM EST, And, 12:00 PM, EST, on Sundays. Thank you, for your time, and, consideration, And, we hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Mr. Alexander Scott Kaiser
**Disclaimer: Please note that this is an advertisement and NJCB is not endorsing this group.**
Please send your annual dues along with the attached membership form to our Treasurer, Bernie Zuckerman. Annual dues for members at large are $10.00.
Get onto Route 95 heading south. (From Route 1 south, from Route 295 heading north or Route 195 heading west to Route 295 north)
Get off at Exit #72 (Old Exit #4) making a left turn onto Pennington Road (Route 31 South toward Ewing)
Turn right at the 4th traffic light, Carlton Avenue. It is across the street from The College of New Jersey.
Saturday July 27th 12 Noon to 4PM at Camp Happiness in Leonardo
Saturday October 26st 12 Noon to 4PM Location TBD
NOTE: Disclaimer. The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the New Jersey Council of the Blind officers and/or members. The editor reserves the right to edit articles submitted for both space and content.Name: ______________________________________________________
Street: ______________________________________________________
City: ________________________________________________________
State: ______________________Zip: _____________________________
Phone Number: _______________________________________________
E-Mail Address: ______________________________________________
Legally Blind: ____ Visually Impaired: ____ Fully Sighted: ____
Format for Braille Forum (ACB National's Newsletter): LP __ Half Speed Cassette __ Braille __ E-mail __ CD___
Format for NJCB Chronicle: E-Mail _____Online _____
Annual Dues: $10.00 due in April
Make check payable to NJCB and send to:
Treasurer- Bernie Zuckerman
32 Judson St. Unit 7-B
Edison, NJ 08837
(732) 221-5362