THE WHITE CANE BULLETIN Florida Council of The Blind, Inc. July - August 2023 Articles for the White Cane Bulletin must be submitted to Sally Benjamin no later than the 15th of the month before it is published. Sally’s email is: salbenjamin60@gmail.com. If you do not have access to a computer and email, please find someone in your chapter to help you. We want to hear from anyone who wants to contribute to our newsletter, so if you cannot find a way to submit your article, call Sally and she will be glad to assist you. Articles published in The White Cane Bulletin are in compliance with Public Law No. 104197, Copyright Law Amendment of 1996. This law allows authorized entities to distribute copies of previously published non-dramatic literary works in specialized formats, including Braille, audio or digital text that are exclusively for use by Blind people or those with disabilities. Any further distributing of such articles in another than a specialized format is an infringement of copyright. Those much-needed contributions, which are Tax-deductible, can be sent to the Florida Council of the Blind Treasurer, Mark Lear, at *** P.O. BOX 214235 DAYTONA BEACH, FL 32121. To remember the Florida Council of the Blind in your Last Will and Testament, you may include a special paragraph for that purpose in your Will or Trust. If your wishes are complex, please contact the FCB at 800-267-4448. The FCB is a 501(c)(3) organization. For other ways to support the Florida Council of the Blind, visit our Fundraising page found at www.fcb.org. ARE YOU MOVING? – Sally Benjamin If you are moving, please notify me of your new address so you will continue to receive your White Cane Bulletin. Also, if you know of anyone interested in joining FCB and who would like to receive the White Cane Bulletin and the Braille Forum, please contact me at: (850) 980-0205 or E-mail: salbenjamin60@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS President’s Message: by Sheila Young 3 Convention Thanks: by Kati Lear 5 Congratulations to our 2023 Award Winners!: by Nancy Folsom 6 Miami Beach Surfin’ It Up for 70: by Anthony Corona 7 July august White Cane Bulletin Auction 2023: by Leslie Spoone 9 Jottings From Jacksonville: by Paul Edwards 9 July August White Cane Bulletin Revenue Plan: by Leslie Spoone 11 Project Insight: by Nancy Folsom 12 July August White Cane Bulletin Walk Team 2023: by Leslie Spoone 12 chapter News 13 Tech Tips: by John Richards 13 Recipe Corner Submitted by: Sally Benjamin 14 Poetry Corner Submitted: by Shelley Sawyer 14 FCB OFFICERS, 2022 – 2024 15 2022-2024 FCB Chapter & Special Affiliate Officer Liaisons 16 Handy Telephone Number References 17 *** July-August 2023 President’s Message by Sheila Young Dear FCB family and friends, It is hard for me to believe that it is July, and half of this year has flown by! I would like to take this opportunity to give you a brief synopsis of what occurred with me at convention. I checked into my hotel room, Thursday morning, took my things up and put my dresses in the closet. We had an eleven o’clock meeting with the hotel management, so I left my room and headed down the hall to the elevators to meet Mikey. When I was walking, at a fairly good pace, I slammed my right side into the wall between the hotel rooms and was thrown across the hall landing on my left side. I texted Mikey and said get to the fifth floor now. He was there in a heartbeat, asking if he could help me get up. There was no way, so he called 911. They were there very quickly, and said I needed to get an x-ray. They took me to the emergency room, and the x-ray room was ready for me. After that was done, the doctor informed me my femur was broken away from the hip ball joint, and I had to be taken to surgery for a partial hip replacement. I was transferred to a rehab center on June 6th, and was discharged on Friday, June 16th, and am at my sister’s home until I am able to be safe at my home. The number of texts and calls have been very moving, and I do want to thank each of you that have taken the time to see how I am doing. As far as convention goes, I didn’t miss a beat thanks to my laptop and zoom! I felt our 70th convention programming was, once again, stellar! The sessions were very informative, entertaining, and I thought everyone’s contributions were amazing! The opening session, organized by Debbie Grubb, was heart-warming and the speakers were genuinely splendid!! It was great to learn a little more about Clark Rachfal, the person! I loved his banquet speech! I know if I start naming everyone, I will leave someone out, so I’ll just say right now thank you to each of you that made our 70th celebration a memorable one! I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Mikey wiseman and Cassandra Jessie for stepping in and doing our organization proud, carrying on the convention with my having to not be there! You both stepped in and did what needed to be done in such a seamless fashion, and my heart is so full knowing we have such a professional team that works hard for each of you every day! Thanks to Kati and the convention committee for such a superb job of pulling it all together! I didn’t get to buy any jewelry this year, darn it! Also, to those of you that contributed to the auction and door prizes, the sponsors, and all that worked so hard to make this year special! As always, Thank you, Leslie, for all of your hard work, from the sponsorships to the auction! It is funny, but everyone looks forward to the FCB auction all over the country! Also, to Wanda, for, once again, putting together a fabulous exhibit hall! Without a doubt, Sally is so instrumental with our registration, so I certainly want to tell her thank you for always making sure our records are kept accurately, as it is important for us to know how many attend convention, whether in person or virtually. A big thank you goes to GOCB for being the host chapter and for putting the goody bags together and helping in the hospitality room. You have done this for several years and it is greatly appreciated. Congratulations to all of the FCB state award winners, scholarship recipients, and all of the chapter award winners! You each contribute to the longevity of our wonderful state affiliate, and I want to say thank you! You are the reason we do what we do! At this time, I am sure you are aware that our state convention will be held in Jacksonville next May, so please come join us! This will be an important year, as it is our election of officers, so please start saving your pennies! When you read this, the ACB national conference and convention will have taken place. I do hope each of you were able to vote your rights as members for the officers that will lead our parent organization for the next 2 years. As president, I ask each of you to read our code of conduct on our web site, and if you are a president of our affiliate, please share it in some way with your members. This has the potential of becoming an issue with our state, and I would hate to see that happen. If you don’t understand what it is or what it relates to, please know you are welcome to reach out to me or any of the other officers. We want our activities to be welcoming and a safe environment for all of our members! Please remember I am only a phone call or email away! *** Convention Thanks by Kati Lear Our 70th FCB Convention was sensational! And, we owe our thanks to all of you. Your program suggestions, program presentations and participation made this convention possible. We had 138 people register and they mostly attended in the hotel meeting rooms but we had Zoom participants as well. Our convention committee continued to do its stellar job. Thanks to Mikey for dealing with the hotel complex room reservations, Wanda for setting up and managing a great exhibit hall, Leslie for getting us our sponsors and hosting the hospitality room, Sally for handling registration prior to and during the convention, to Cachet and Sally for helping me with the program, to Mark for paying the bills, and to all committee members for their great ideas which constituted thinking outside of the box. We would like to thank the Greater Orlando Council of the Blind Chapter for gathering materials for our goody bags and providing drinks and snacks for the hospitality room. We would like to express our appreciation to ACB Media for streaming our meetings, our ACB hosts who assisted in the Zoom rooms, and to Ryan Cordell and John Richards who handled our audio visual for our meeting rooms. It takes a village to set up and run a convention and we are glad we have one. We are open to ideas and suggestions, so if you have thoughts as to how we can improve our convention, and program ideas for next year, please send them to me. My email address is floridacouncil@comcast.net. Our fall board meeting will be at the Sheraton Orlando North Friday, November 3 through noon on Sunday, November 5. The room rates are $104 per night plus tax and we will let you know when the room block is open for reservations. Moving forward to next year, our 2024 convention will be in Jacksonville at the South Bank Hotel. The dates are Thursday, May 16 through noon on Sunday, May 19. We will let you know about room rates and hotel amenities. So, stay tuned for further information. *** Congratulations to our 2023 award winners! by Nancy Folsom I want to give a great big thanks to my awesome committee!! Julien Clement and Mary Tyson are the best and I really could not have done it without them! The awards committee received a lot of award nominations and it was really difficult to choose. I wish all the folks who were nominated could have won an award. The following state awards were given at our 2023 Awards Dinner: Dolly Gamble: Sis. Elizabeth Fiorite W. A. Ouzts: Kati Lear R. Henry P. Johnson: Anthony Corona William Ferrell; “Just Bill”: Debbie Keeling Cooke Chapter President’s Award: George Robinson President’s Special award: Wanda Stokley President’s Special Award: Leslie Spoone President’s Special Award: Anthony Corona The following individuals were honored by their chapters: Miami Beach Council of the Blind: Justin Aucoin Tallahassee Council of the Blind: Janet Acheson Palm Beach Council of the Blind: Matthew Herskovits Pinellas Council of the Blind: Kathleen Wright Jacksonville Council of the Blind: Jack & Phyllis Dodge Greater Orlando Council of the Blind: Marsha Bukala Halifax Council of the Blind: Mark Lear Halifax Council of the Blind: Barbara Lear Halifax Council of the Blind: Houligan’s Speedway Restaurant Miami Metro Council of the Blind: Julien Clement Miami Metro Council of the Blind: Joanne Carswell Miami Metro Council of the Blind Minnie Williams Thanks to each of you who sent nominations. I enjoyed the opportunity to honor all of the deserving individuals and recognize them for all their hard work in making life better for those who are visually impaired and blind. *** Miami Beach Surfin’ It Up for 70 by Anthony Corona   5-in person attendees, 4-Awards, 3-first timers, 2-Rockin‘ Karaoke Performances, and 1-memorable scholarship moment. That’s the numbers but one cannot quantify into words the amount of pride I as newly elected President feel about our chapter’s under-dog victorious presence celebrating 70 years of the Florida Council of the Blind!!   Thursday evening as some decked themselves in 70’s garb and battened down in the bar the entertainment was stellar. From Mikey’s Rolling that River Deep to a haunting cover of the Moody Blues Nights in White Satin we were all singing, drinking and celebrating. I chose my selections to represent the 70’s vibe while highlighting my personality and community. Yes folks, I channeled not only THE BARBARA and DONNA on a dance inducing rendition of No More Tears but then as encore I dropped that MIC after a crowd-pleasing acoustic performance of Killing Me Softly where I enticed the entire bar into unofficial background singing all those La-la-la’s.  Then one of our first timers Suzy Rivera Lit up our Lives with her beautiful rendition of the Debbie Boone classic.    Surfin’ the high wave of a glorious karaoke afterglow Miami Beach members shined through the panels on Friday including: Legislative seminar where I brought Orlando Lawmakers Anna Eskamani. And Rita Harris who walked us through the legislative process and gave us so many valuable advocacy tips and ideas. Rounding out the panel was FCB legend Paul Edwards and in a show of the power of coalition building Russ Davis who is the Legislative chair of Florida’s NFB affiliate. Later Bill and Suzy shined as First timers; and then there was the Awards Banquet.    4 Awards and one scholarship were awarded to members of one of FCB’s smallest chapters, please indulge me as I brag on a bit. During the pandemic some chapters felt the challenge to stay together and connected but not Miami Beach. Under the Presidency of my immediate past president our chapter flourished. George Robinson who received the Cook Chapter President’s Award not only found our chapter a new elegant home to meet monthly but kept us all socialized and managed to bring lively speakers and out of the box meetings that served to reignite and unify our chapter. His recognition is so well deserved. Justin Aqoin received a chapter award for his fearless advocacy and his industry changing appearance in the Miami Herald during Miami Beach’s successful advocacy with the county’s Para-transit mess.  More about Justin in a moment.    I want to take a moment here to thank our FCB President for awarding me one of her President awards. I am humbled beyond belief to receive not one but 2 awards this year. Many people will say they don’t do what they do for the awards and I count myself among that crowd however, I will not deny that recognition feels amazing. With tears climbing the hills and valleys of my cheeks I cried out: “You Like me… You really like me” in a nod to the famous Sally Field Oscar moment. Usually known for my verbal avalanches I truly was speechless and may I reiterate so humbled and full of FCB love. Just a few short years ago I sat at that very banquet watching so many great FCB’ers hoping one day I would truly be one of them and Friday June 2nd I finally felt home in my adopted state. Thank you all for embracing me and diving into the initiatives myself and the Governmental Affairs Committee have been working on.    Back to our beloved Justin. I cannot possibly due justice with words describing the feeling of Pride I have for this incredible young man who is the future of our beloved FCB. Justin who faces many challenges and supposed barriers to his full participation in the education process strives to be a lawyer who will change the world. Justin if you’re reading this; You already are!!! Receiving the first annual awarding of the Nancy Burgess Hall Advocacy scholarship and borrowing the words of the esteemed Mr. Hall Justin embodies all the criteria and spirit of this award. More tears rained down from my eyes as Debbie Grubb, Gabriel Lopez Kafati and Doug Hall extolled the triumphs of Justin and memorialized his determination and spirit. This young man who has become a friend and inspiration for me and all of the Miami Beach chapter members took the MIC and Vowed to continue to take FCB By storm. Though there is no biological connection as those tears flowed from my eyes, I thought that if this is even a small feeling of what it must be like as a parent to celebrate the triumphs of one’s charges. Justin thank you for all you are doing and all will do. You make us all so Proud and you have gained so many new FCB Family members.    Saturday opened up with another of Ms. Grubb’s amazing opening advocacy sessions including Miami Beach’s and my chosen partners participation. This panel was not only informing and inspiring those dammed tears fought their way into the world again as my Gabriel’s heartfelt assertion that advocacy begins not with the issues but with remembering the thing that ties us all together no matter what political party or religious affiliation or issue standpoint: We are all humans first. Gabriel’s message resonated throughout the whole room as I heard other sniffles and a few whispers of agreement. The panel also included ACB and FCB notable’s and will be one talked about for a long time to come.    I am not sure how others taking a new Presidency feel but I can tell you in the last few months I have felt emotions ranging from: “Am I a Fraud”, “Can I really lead this Group” to “By George (no pun intended) we got them to listen” to the amazing heights of Pride at the 70th annual FCB Convention. Remembering that first banquet and celebrating with so many new friends all while seeing our small chapter shine like a diamond, I am still feeling full of pride and love. What a way to usher in Pride Month!! *** Hello FCB Family, Wow, what a fantastic auction! I really appreciate the chapters, venders and individuals that donated and supported the FCB Annual Auction. I also would like to say a big thanks to Dan Spoone for auctioneering the auction and to Bob and Peggy Carpenter for doing the descriptions. Thanks also to ACB Media and to Christine Chaikin for helping out with the pictures. I would also like to thank Paul Edwards for being the auctioneer for the live auction at the banquet. Again, this annual auction could not happen without all of you, so a big hip, hip, hurray! Warmest Regards, Leslie Spoone FCB Auction Chair *** Jottings From Jacksonville by Paul Edwards A Crisis That Gets Worse These are facts! The population of seniors is rising! People are living to older and older ages! Inevitably, one doesn't just get old. Almost always other things go on as well. Hearing gets worse. Vision begins to fail. Other ailments begin to appear. Often at least some elements of senility start to happen. The American Foundation for the Blind published some data more than a decade ago that suggested that the growth in the senior population of people with severe vision loss over the next generation would be huge. Their figures suggested that the population of severely visually impaired people would double over the next twenty years. In Florida the impact of this increase will be even greater than the national average because we already have a population of seniors that is higher than in most other states. How do we manage to deal with this huge increase in the number of people with severe vision loss? We really don't know! Florida is actually probably lucky! We have almost twenty local community programs (LCP) which, in some cases, are known as lighthouses. The model we use to serve our seniors operates entirely through this system of local entities each of which cover one or more county and are responsible for serving seniors in their service area. This population of seniors constitutes more than half of the legally blind population in our country. I have seen statistics that say that more than fifty percent of the blind population is over the age of 55. There is a fairly large budget available through the Division of Blind Services to serve folks who want to return to work. These folks are known as people being served by the Vocational Rehabilitation Program. For seniors who have retired or do not plan to return to work, there are some Federal dollars but not many. The "Older Blind" program has a little over thirty million dollars to be divided among the fifty states and the territories of the United States. That level of funding is unchanged for at least the last decade and shows little likelihood of being increased any time soon. That means that the state and local programs must come up with the money to provide services to this rapidly expanding group of older blind folks. I said Florida is lucky. The legislature allocates funds to serve this population which continues to be insufficient to cover the costs of effectively training this population to survive and remain functional in their homes as seniors with severe vision impairments. One year the legislature allocated an extra $300,000 (three hundred thousand dollars) which was most helpful. The Florida Council of the Blind has passed resolutions last year and this year asking the legislature to permanently increase their allocation of dollars to serve seniors and we will have to see how that resolution fares over the next year. We know that local lighthouses must raise funds locally to subsidize the funds they receive from the Division of Blind Services to serve this population. They have had some success raising dollars without which the services available to older people who have vision loss would be even more uncertain. However we look at what is available to serve this population, it is clear that there isn't enough money to go around. Local programs must maximize the number of people they can train by creating curricula that move seniors through the training programs as quickly as seems expedient. There are, as a result, probably elements of training that receive short shrift. This may apply to training in braille. It may apply to training in technology. I am not sure we know a lot about what optimal training would look like. We do know that both the state needs assessment and the client satisfaction survey both indicate a high degree of excellence in the services being delivered by the Division and by local programs. We as consumers need to continue to advocate for this population. More funding has to be found. Given the incapacity of legislators at the Federal level to agree on much of anything, it is somewhat unlikely that we will see new Federal funding for the "Older Blind Program". So we must rely on the state legislature and on the generosity of people throughout the state to subsidize a program that is catastrophically under-funded. The Florida Council of the Blind will continue to work with others to do what we can to make a difference. In addition to pure funding issues, we must do more to get local area programs in aging to include people who are losing their vision in day programs and other training opportunities. It is also clear that many older folks with vision loss need services to be delivered at home in order to prevent them from being unnecessarily institutionalized. Most people whose primary problem is vision loss do not need to go into nursing homes. However, unless they get the training they need and the home support they deserve, it is much more likely that the wrong decisions will be made and people who are blind will find themselves in nursing homes where people have no idea of how to provide the support that will allow people with vision loss to optimize their independence there. We have a lot to do! We have a problem that is serious and getting worse! Seniors who are blind deserve better than they are getting! Let's work to make sure they get more! *** Hello FCB Family, Thanks so much to everyone that took and sold the chapter revenue plan tickets. We gave over 2500 tickets and this is fantastic. Congratulations to all of the chapters that contributed to this fundraiser. We really appreciate everyone’s participation. Here are the winners: $100 Jason Goldfield, Green Acres, Fl $100 Dr Michael Chimes Palm Beach Gardens, Fl $1,000 Tasha Welsh Alantic, IA Warmest Regards, Leslie Spoone FCB Fundraising Committee Member *** Project Insight by Nancy Folsom As a blind person, we face obstacles in our lives every day. We work out ways to overcome those obstacles. Maybe it’s something about computers or cell phones, but we look for assistance from others who have faced the same issues we have faced. We learn from their struggles and how they overcame them and are now successful. That’s what Project Insight really means. I think that most of us who are blind do this on a regular basis without even realizing it. If you know someone who is having a difficult time adapting to their vision loss, reach out to them and let them know that you were once dealing with the same things they are facing. You can give them ideas about how to do something or let them know where you were and how far you have come. You can encourage them and most of all, you can let them know that they are not alone. That’s Project Insight. You are giving someone insight and guiding them to success. They will feel much more able to cope and you will feel good that you have helped another person deal with their vision loss. *** Hello FCB Family, It is time again for our annual Florida Hurricanes walk team. We are in second place right now, but we would love to get to first place, so we are looking for your participation in either joining the team or donating to the team. We really appreciate anything that you can do to support our team. Half of our proceeds will go to the White Cane Bulletin that we all love dearly. Here is the link and if you need help you can call the Minnesota office at 612 332-3242. https://secure.qgiv.com/event/acbwalk2023/account/1477774/ Warmest Regards, Leslie Spoone FCB Walk Captain 407 678-4163 *** Chapter News GOCB Update by Martha James  On April 22, GOCB had its annual trivia night. It was held at the VFW. There was a silent auction, and everyone had a wonderful time! The annual state convention was held from June 1 to June 4. Sheila Young fell and broke her hip. She is in rehab and will, hopefully, be released soon. Our thoughts and prayers are with her.   Our awards and scholarship luncheon was held on June 10 at Gino’s pizza. We had a nice time recognizing our chapter award recipient, Marsha Bukala and our community service award was presented to Florida Sculpture Guild for the art exhibit for the blind and low vision community. Our chapter takes the summer off, so we will resume our regular meetings in September.   *** Tech Tips by John Richards: from the Technology Committee Public USB Charging Stations; What Are The Dangers? The FBI has recently issued a warning to all who use or consider using free USB public charging stations. Free USB public charging stations can be found in airports, hotels or shopping centers. Scammers have figured out a way to initiate a public charging station scam called Juice-Jacking. This scam targets sell phone users wanting to juice up their devices while using public charging stations. While charging your device, cyberthieves are able to lock your phone or steal your sensitive data or passwords by downloading malware through the type A USB data port. When an unsuspecting individual plugs in their phone or tablet, their information is transferred to the cyberthieves. To avoid this, simply don't use public chargers. Connect a compatible charging brick and plug into an electrical outlet. If for some reason, you can't avoid using a public charging station, use a charging only cable. You can also use an external power bank. These are relatively inexpensive and widely available. sources referenced for the above article: Warning for Cell Phone Users: Do Not Use Public Charging Stations Written by Craig Johnson | April 20th, 2023 https://clark.com/scams-rip-offs/juice-jacking/ FBI office warns against using public phone charging stations at airports or malls, citing malware risk BY MICHAEL ROPPOLO APRIL 12, 2023 / 4:53 PM / CBS NEWS https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-warns-against-juice-jacking-what-is-it/ *** Recipe Corner Almond Joy Cookies Submitted: by Sally Benjamin Ingredients • 1 14-ounce bag sweetened flaked coconut • 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk • 2/3 cup salted roasted almond lightly chopped • 2 cups (1 bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips Instructions • Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper. • In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, chopped almonds, and chocolate chips. • Scoop the cookie dough into small mounds on the prepare cookie sheets. Wet your hands with water and then shape the mounds into round cookies and slightly flatten the tops of each cookie. • Bake at 325F for 12-14 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet before serving. *** Poetry Corner Submitted: by Shelley Sawyer Ah Sunflower by William Blake Ah! sunflower, weary of time, Who countest the steps of the sun, Seeking after that sweet golden clime Where the traveler’s journey is done; Where the youth pined away with desire, And the pale virgin shrouded in snow, Arise from their graves and aspire; Where my sunflower wishes to go. *** FCB Officers, 2022 – 2024 President, Sheila Young 2304 Amherst Ave., Orlando, FL 32804 sheilayoung125@att.net (407) 425-9200 1st Vice-President, Mikey Wiseman 591 E. 15th St., Hialeah, FL 33010 wisemanmikey@gmail.com (305) 331-4870 2nd Vice President, Cassandra Jessie 408 White St., Daytona Beach, FL 32114 cassandrajessie@gmail.com (850) 980-0177 Treasurer, Mark Lear P.O. BOX 214235 DAYTONA BEACH, FL 32121-4215 learm52@icloud.com (386) 788-0463 Membership Secretary, Sally Benjamin 1009 Concord Road, Apt. 116, Tallahassee, FL 32308 Salbenjamin60@gmail.com (850) 980-0205 Recording Secretary, Mary Tyson 291 Eddie Ave., Holly Hill, FL 32117 mtyson541@bellsouth.net (386) 212-9496 Immediate Past President, James Kracht 9901 SW 138th Street, Miami, FL 33176 jameskkracht@gmail.com (305) 251-6983 or (407) 378-3477 Editor of White Cane Bulletin, Sally Benjamin 1009 Concord Road, Apt. 116, Tallahassee, FL 32308 Salbenjamin60@gmail.com (850) 980-0205 FCB Administrative Assistant, Kati Lear (800) 267-4448 (386) 763-3836     floridacouncil@comcast.net *** 2022-2024 FCB Chapter & Special Affiliate Officer Liaisons Please contact your officer liaison if we can be of assistance or if you need anything from the Executive Committee. CALM (Chapter At Large Members) Sheila Young sheilayoung125@att.net (407) 425-9200 Greater Orlando Council of the Blind: Mark Lear learm52@icloud.com (386) 788-0463 Halifax Council of the Blind: Sheila Young sheilayoung125@att.net (407) 425-9200 Jacksonville Council of the Blind: Cassandra Jessie cassandrajessie@gmail.com (850) 980-0177 Manatee County Council of the Blind: Sally Benjamin Salbenjamin60@gmail.com (850) 980-0205 Miami Beach Council of the Blind Miami Metro Council of the Blind Northwest Florida Chapter of the Florida Council of the Blind: Mikey Wiseman wisemanmikey@gmail.com (305) 331-4870 Palm Beach Council of the Blind: Sally Benjamin Salbenjamin60@gmail.com (850) 980-0205 Pinellas Council of the Blind: Sheila Young sheilayoung125@att.net (407) 425-9200 Sarasota Council of the Blind: Mary Tyson mtyson541@bellsouth.net (386) 212-9496 Southwest Florida Council of the Blind: Mikey Wiseman wisemanmikey@gmail.com (305) 331-4870 Tallahassee Council of the Blind: Sheila Young sheilayoung125@att.net (407) 425-9200 Tampa Council of the Blind Braille Revival League of Florida: Mary Tyson mtyson541@bellsouth.net (386) 212-9496 Coalition for the Concerns of the Totally Blind: Mark Lear learm52@icloud.com (386) 788-0463 Florida Council of Citizens with Low Vision: Sally Benjamin Salbenjamin60@gmail.com 850-980-0205 Guide Dog Users of Florida: Mary Tyson mtyson541@bellsouth.net (386) 212-9496 *** Handy Telephone Number References Project Insight: (800) 267-4448 Bureau of Braille & Talking Book Library: (800) 226-6075 Division of Blind Services, State Office: (800) 342-1828 American Council of The Blind: (800) 424-8666 (Available 3:00 to 5:30 P.M. EST Monday-Friday only) ACB Legislative Hotline: (800) 424-8666 (Available evenings 8:00 P.M. to 12:00 Midnight EST and weekends 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. only) AT&T Disability Services: (800)872-3883 Press 00 and speak with your long-distance carrier, or Florida only: (800)982-2891 BellSouth Disability Services: (800)982-2891 (From anywhere) Social Security: (800) 772-1213 (24-hour voice and touch tone accessible 2