American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Winter 2021 WHAT'S NEW?
Between December 1, 2020, and January 18, 2021, some one hundred and twenty blind children and adults took part in the 2021 Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest sponsored by the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults. Participants recorded their reading on Excel spreadsheets, competing against one another and pushing themselves to build their Braille reading speed and fluency. Cash prizes were awarded to first-, second-, and third-place winners in each reading category (grades K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12, and adult). In addition, each participant who submitted a reading log received a packet of Braille-related gifts.
The Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest is one of the many ways that the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults works to enrich the lives of blind people in the United States. For more than a century the American Action Fund has brought Braille to thousands of blind children and adults. The Action Fund ships free books each month to any blind or deaf-blind child who wants them. Future Reflections is supported by the American Action Fund in partnership with the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC).
If you enjoy receiving Future Reflections, if your child receives Braille books through programs of the Action Fund, or if you have benefited from other programs of the Action Fund over the years, we humbly ask for your help.
You can donate online to the American Action Fund by visiting https://actionfund.org, or you can send a check made out to American Action Fund, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, MD 21230.
Your gift will make a real difference. Please help by giving a tax-deductible gift so the American Action Fund can continue to provide Braille books to children, publish Future Reflections for parents and teachers, and more.
Often the simplest and most significant way to make a charitable contribution is to plan to give a legacy gift. It is easier than you might 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. After providing for your loved ones, you can bequeath a specific dollar amount or percentage of your estate 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 amounts 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 any 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.