American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Spring 2020
The American Action Fund knows that blind adults and children are fully capable, and that Braille literacy is an important building block of success. We provide Braille books each month to thousands of families across the United States to empower blind people. Our programs are needed now more than ever. Due to the pandemic many schools are not distributing hard copy Braille, and our Braille books are sometimes the only Braille materials that blind children receive.
Blind students depend on parents, teachers, and libraries for learning, and parents, teachers, and libraries depend upon the American Action Fund to help. The American Action Fund provides free white canes, Braille calendars, Braille books, resources for creating tactile art and graphics, and more.
"My daughter, Brooke, has been enrolled in the Braille Books Program for quite a few years," a parent wrote recently. "She is able to keep up with her sighted peers in her inclusive classroom because we pushed for her to start receiving Braille instruction at the age of three. We are extremely thankful for programs such as the American Action Fund that have provided her with the resources needed to practice her Braille literacy skills. We know Braille literacy is the single biggest factor to help Brooke achieve her life goals and dreams."
The work we do to encourage independent travel, excellence in education, and Braille literacy nationwide must continue. If you are in a position to do so, you can make a difference by making a contribution. These programs are made possible through your support. Please help by giving a tax-deductible gift to the American Action Fund.
You can donate online by visiting our new webpage at https://www.actionfund.org, over the phone by calling 410-659-9315, or by sending a check to the address below:
American Action Fund
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
To learn more about how to receive Braille books in the mail or to donate a Braille book of your own, visit ShareBraille.org. Through the ShareBraille program you can donate and receive Braille books, keeping them in circulation for years to come.
There is another way you can help the American Action Fund. You can join our Legacy Society.
Often the simplest and most significant way to make a charitable gift is to plan to give a legacy gift. It is easier than you think. You can plan to give all or part of a bank account, insurance proceeds, investment assets, real estate, or a retirement account. You can even give a required minimum distribution from your IRA directly to charity and avoid taxes on that money. You could bequeath a specific dollar amount or percentage of your estate, after taking care of your loved ones, to an organization whose mission is important to you.
Your bequest carries with it the values and ideals that have been important to you throughout your lifetime and supports an organization whose mission you hold dear.
In addition, planning for a legacy gift may reduce the total amount of your taxable estate, which can have a positive impact on any funds you have designated for your heirs.
The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults Legacy Society honors and recognizes the generosity and the vision of special friends of the Action Fund who have chosen to leave a legacy through a will or other planned giving option.
If you wish to give part or all of an account, simply fill out a P.O.D. (payable on death) or T.O.D. (transfer on death) form. For pensions and insurance assets, simply designate a charity as a beneficiary. If you would like to leave a legacy to the Action Fund in your will, please include the following language:
"I give, devise, and bequeath unto the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, 1800 Johnson Street, Suite 100, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, a Maryland nonprofit corporation, the sum of $______________ (or) _________ percent of my net estate" or "the following stocks and bonds: ____________________, to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons."
If you have questions or would like more information, please reach out to Patti Chang at 410-659-9315. If you have included the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults in your will or have made some other provision for a future gift to us and would like to tell us about it, please contact Patti so we can recognize you as a member of our Legacy Society.
Legacy gifts provide for generations of blind children and adults. Please consider the American Action Fund in your future plans.