by Charles Nabarrete

The Goal Three Committee of the Strategic Planning Group for CCB voted to explore the possibility of forming a new affiliate for diabetics. The American
Council of the Blind has an affiliate named Diabetics in Action; Pat LaFrance Wolf was one of the founding members. Although some of you may be members
of DIA, many would benefit from having a state diabetic group. First, the CCB affiliate could have meetings at the state convention which could provide
valuable information, especially if you cannot attend a national convention. Also an email list could be set up so that diabetics can exchange information
and have responses to their queries.

If you are interested in forming such an affiliate, please contact either David Jackson, d4jackson@sbcglobal.net 415-239-1873; or Charles Nabarrete chasnab45@gmail.com
626-338-8106. If there is sufficient interest, work will begin on forming the California Diabetics Affiliate for CCB.
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Glendale Burbank Chapter Celebrates Its Active and Growing Membership
by Susan Glass

What do you get when you combine a CCB chapter president with a talent for recruiting dynamic speakers, a legislative chair with wisdom and advocacy skill,
and a warm, open-hearted membership chair who believes that everyone in the chapter has talent and accountability? What you get is the creative, and oh
so alive Glendale-Burbank chapter. It's a diverse group, boasting an age range of 30 to 82, with occupations as varied as a former Broadway actor, a teacher,
a social worker, a therapist, an attorney, an employee at The Braille Institute, parents, grandparents: the list continues. Congenial, hospitable, welcoming,
and homey, are the words members use to describe their chapter. One member has made others aware of gay pride, another of the challenges inherent in alcoholism
recovery. All of course, come together to grapple with the challenges of limited vision and blindness.

The Glendale-Burbank Chapter of CCB has a core membership of around 25, but it's climbed as high as 38, and is currently on the rise. According to chapter
president Ardis Bazyn, this growth is due in large part to the efforts of membership chair Vickie Parker. Ardis, who has been a member of CCB since 1999,
says that Vickie is the most active membership chair she's ever encountered.

?There's a lot of expertise in our chapter," says Vickie, who has retinopathy of prematurity, and who joined CCB in 2007. "A lot of people have lived a
long time with blindness. They have all this wisdom that they can share. We are more than a social club. We have a purpose. If we format our meeting a
little differently, we can share information that might be more interesting to new members.?

And that's just what the chapter has done. At the end of each meeting, they allot a 5 minute spot to a discussion of technology. They might discuss Amazon
echo, or they might talk about household products, such as a new blind-friendly washing machine. The important thing about these discussions is that members
drive them; they bring their discoveries to the chapter to share. ?The second thing that we're going to add to our meetings," continues Vickie, "is a consumer
advocacy segment, where for about 15 or 20 minutes, a member shares a problem that she or he is having, perhaps something to do with accessing social security
information, or maybe how to make airline reservations using websites that seem less than accessible. Other members share strategies they've tried that
have worked in such situations.?

?We're all in charge of membership," says Vickie, "but we need someone to coordinate it, someone to keep it positive.? To that end, the chapter has formed
a membership committee consisting of 9 people. They hold breakfast meetings in Vickie?s home. At these meetings, each person checks in with what he or
she has done that month toward growing membership. Currently this group is planning a membership drive that looks something like this: At the kick-off
meeting, they'll review the history of CCB as an organization, and they'll talk about what CCB has meant to each of them personally. If a chapter member
brings someone new to the membership kick-off, then that chapter member gets a ticket in a drawing for a free prize. If the new recruit joins, then he
or she gets a ticket for the drawing too.

Vickie also hopes to organize leadership seminars that focus on helping members assess their personal strengths and abilities, and then apply those strengths
and abilities in service to the chapter.

One challenge faced by all affiliates is the balancing of members' local needs with the overarching needs of CCB. President Ardis Bazyn says that one way
the chapter tries for this balance is by devoting meeting time to discussing items of interest that have been published in the California Connection during
any given month. The chapter also sponsors at least two attendees at every CCB convention. Indeed, this in large part is where the proceeds of the chapter's
fund-raisers go. They hold 3 fund-raisers per year, usually in restaurants. ?You need restaurants that allow blind people to travel from table to table
or have a reserved area like the back area," says Ardis. "We tell people that the fund-raiser hours are between 4 and 10, and invite the majority of people
to come between 6 and 8. In this way they can socialize." As a number of chapter members are hard of hearing, Ardis says they're also raising money for
a new PA system.

So what challenges face Glendale-Burbank? "Certainly one challenge," says Ardis, "is in persuading people to run for office. I'm on my 4th two-year term
as president." It isn't that she minds the work. Throughout her tenure in CCB, she has served on the board for both the Greater Los Angeles Chapter and
the Burbank chapter. She's also been treasurer for the LA chapter and corresponding secretary as well. But like Vickie, she wants all chapter members
to have an active stake in CCB. "I ask my colleagues for suggestions on who they'd like as program speakers. This past March, at Teddie-Joy Remhild's prompting,
Jeff Thom came and addressed our chapter on legislative matters.?

It's no surprise that Teddie-Joy Remhild suggested Jeff Thom as a program speaker: she serves with Jeff on CCB'S Governmental Affairs Committee and is
legislative chair for the chapter as well as its vice-president. She loves helping out with Capitol Day, and playfully refers to herself as a "political
junkie."

?When you have an aging membership," she says, "or when members move or join other chapters, well that all creates holes that new people need to fill.?

Both Teddie-Joy and Vickie say that they joined the Glendale-Burbank chapter at points in their lives when everything was in flux, and both drew strength
from the welcoming community they found there. So keep up the excellent community building, Glendale-Burbank. CCB is lucky to have you.