Many people are involved in getting this issue to you.  The writers can write and the editor can edit, but until the material is printed, brailled, recorded, and distributed, it is just a computer file.  Therefore, we owe great thanks to the following people for the work they do in producing this publication.

The purpose of the National Federation of the Blind is two-fold — to help blind persons achieve self-confidence and self-respect and to act as a vehicle for collective self-expression by the blind.  By providing public education about blindness, information and referral services, scholarships, literature and publications about blindness, aids and appliances and other adaptive equipment for the blind, advocacy services and protection of civil rights, development and evaluation of technology, and support for blind persons and their families, members of the NFB strive to educate the publi

At Large Chapter — State wide: meets by conference call on the third Sunday of every month; contact Aaron Cannon at (319) 400-0157 or cannona@gmail.com for
meeting details

Central Minnesota Chapter — St. Cloud area; meets at 12:30 on the second Saturday of every month at the American Legion in Waite Park

Exciting times are coming in NFB conventions.  Keep these in mind as you plan your activities throughout the coming year.

The Annual NFB of Minnesota Convention is October 9-11 in Bloomington at the Ramada Mall of America Hotel.  Room reservations must be made by September 11.  More information is on our website at www.nfbmn.org.

By Judy Sanders, Secretary

By Carol Pankow, Director, Minnesota State Services for the Blind

By Patrick A. Barrett

Fresh tomatoes and cucumbers in a green salad.  Mouthwatering aroma wafting from warm zucchini bread.  These are some of the fruits (and veggies) of our labors from the Windom Community Garden this year.  This is our fourth year gardening our own little plot.  Thirty gardeners now tend these half or full raised beds.  We have cultivated new friendships and our neighbors’ understanding about what blind growers can do.

By Steve Jacobson

By Lori Peglow

CMC-NFB President’s Message

The other day, a friend of mine was talking to a mutual friend of ours, and in the course of the conversation, this mutual friend referred to herself as a “nothing.”  Both my friend and I were deeply moved and saddened by the words “I’m a nothing.”

By Jennifer Dunnam