Meet the Blind Month is a great time to ramp up outreach and education efforts in our local communities. The benefits of Meet the Blind Month events are numerous: they can raise public awareness, reach new members, and bring your chapter's existing members closer together. Our Louisiana and Maryland affiliate presidents, Pam Allen and Sharon Maneki, offer the following ideas for having a successful Meet the Blind Month.

• Host a screening of Do You Dream in Color? with a discussion after the movie to promote a greater understanding of blindness by the general public.
• Participate in an existing community event like a fall festival or parade. Hand out literature and Braille alphabet cards, and play games using Braille. Giving people their name in Braille, especially kids, is always a big hit!
• Read a children’s Braille book at a local preschool or elementary school.
• Hold a “Braille Carnival” for local kids (this could be blind or sighted kids), including games featuring Braille, at the local public library.
• Collect canned goods/food items for a local food bank.
• Present at a local assisted living facility/nursing home for seniors, with hands-on demonstrations of tools and strategies they can use for independence.
• Do a local fundraiser with a restaurant. Usually these businesses will hand out flyers and donate a percentage of meal and/or drink sales. You can hand out literature with the flyer or set up an information table at the restaurant during the event.
• Build on the interests of the people in the chapter.  For example, if you have football enthusiasts, have a tailgate party before a game, or if you have people who like wine, do a wine tasting.

Whatever event you decide to do during Meet the Blind Month, be sure to publicize your events so that others in the community can participate. This can be done through articles in the local newspaper, interviews on local morning radio/TV shows, social media outlets, and your chapter/affiliate webpage. Email [email protected] to receive a sample press release. Also share your local efforts with the broader NFB community via social media using #MTBM17 so others can draw inspiration from your ideas and we can celebrate our successes together.

Materials are available through the Independence Market. If you’d like any of the following to hand out at your events, please email [email protected] or call (410) 659-9314, extension 2216.

• General NFB brochure – available in English and Spanish
• Braille alphabet cards
• Kernel Books
• The Courtesy Rules of Blindness

Meet the Blind Month is about showing the world how we live the lives we want. We look forward to hearing about all the successful and creative Meet the Blind Month events your chapter hosts!