A recent issue of the magazine The Week contained a piece about a little boy whose tooth came out while playing Dodge Ball. Unfortunately, when the game ended, the tooth was nowhere to be found. What to do! How could the Tooth Fairy bring money without a tooth? Well the school principal wrote a letter to said Fairy on school stationary! That clearly did the trick as the next morning found the letter gone but the money there! What a miracle!
I was reminded of my own Tooth Fairy experience. While a boarding student at the California School for the Blind, I lost two teeth one weekend—thanks to my dad and his trusty piece of string. (Today they'd probably have him up for child abuse using string and all.) I was beside myself with worry! How would the TF know where to find me and my missing teeth? I was dubious when my parents assured me the TF could find any child anywhere. I returned to school Sunday evening and carefully placed my teeth in a little jar on the window sill. My parents left. Just before going to bed, I thought I'd better make sure the teeth were still accounted for! To my amazement, the teeth were gone, but a whole dollar was tucked into the jar. I can still feel the wonder: imagine the Tooth Fairy not only found me but rather than waiting until the next morning as at home, the TF came to school even before I went to bed. I asked the dorm counselor to make a special telephone call to my parents so I could tell them the amazing news!
The sheer wonder! The amazing joy of that miracle!
We are beginning a season famous for miracles and wondrous happenings.
Speaking of miracles, it has been a pretty miraculous year for CCB and 2020 promises to continue the pattern.
At the end of last year, we were in pretty bad shape financially: we had just lost thousands of dollars on our Major Gifts campaign and had released our CEO.
We began 2019 with only a few thousand in the bank. Then the tide began to turn.
Our newly-elected treasurer Lisa Thomas, began to wrestle our finances into some kind of manageable order. The Phoenix Committee had ideas for moving forward, including subletting office space. We were reconciled to sharing space with others. But having placed our ad in May, nothing came through for months. Finally when I reached our landlord's attorney, he suggested we move to the smaller office just across the way from our current location. That happened smoothly (thanks in large part to Nicole's efforts) and we not only have a suite to ourselves, but we even kept the same suite number while paying nearly a thousand dollars less per month.
Another "miracle": we just received word that our Energy Upgrade California grant has been renewed. While we initially will receive only about two thirds of what we got last year, James Collins our Educational Outreach Officer who piloted the grant through the process, assures us there are places we can trim while still maintaining his salary and meeting some of our ongoing office expenses. He will also be applying for other smaller grants which should become available early in 2020.
Our fundraising efforts, while modest, have delivered around $8,500 net profit for our first-ever telephone auction. The Auction Committee, ably co-chaired by Andrea deKlotz and Larry Gasman, is already hard at work planning next year's event.
Speaking of fundraising, our partnership with OntheMuv is coming to fruition. My husband Steve and I have been talking with minitreadmill inventor Patrick Netter and CEO Joanna Medin almost from the moment I assumed the presidency. Like any new product being developed from the ground up, there have been delays. But finally we hope to have our first demonstration units by the end of the year, and we will be bringing them to a chapter near you! Steve Bauer will be our able representative in Southern California while I spearhead the statewide effort. The motorized version, the Minitreadmill which can reach speeds of three miles per hour, should retail for $499, and the self-powered sitmill will sell for around $150. CCB has an exclusive contract to sell these devices to the blindness world for 18 months. But we hope to expand far beyond our own community. We envision reaching out to senior centers, hospitals, centers for independent living, any entities serving folks who can't readily go out to a gym, and yes, the general public. It will take us some time to get everything rolling, but soon you can invite everyone you know to purchase these nifty devices and profits will come to CCB automatically. We will net around 20 percent profit for each unit. We may negotiate special deals with certain entities but even then, we will get some portion of the profit without doing the work ourselves.
OntheMuV folks are incredible to work with: they are open to all our marketing and development ideas. They plan to develop a talking remote so the visually-impaired user has the same feedback as sighted folks. The little self-powered sitmill has no information of any kind for anyone! (But you can put your Fitbit or watch on your ankle and stride along—all while sitting in your chair. In fact if you try to stand on these devices, the thing stops!
The self-power unit, weighing around 13 pounds, can be easily picked up in one hand while the motorized unit weighing in at 23 pounds, is only slightly more difficult to carry about.
We have formed a business Steering Committee to manage this new business. For the time being, we will operate under CCB's umbrella, but in time we hope to create a separate business entity.
Since I was attending the convention of the Washington State Council of the Blind anyway, I displayed the devices in the exhibit hall to enthusiastic acclaim. Before we go further afield however, CCB members will have the first opportunity to order. We will have four sets of demo units, one for Steve Bauer, one for me, one for the office and the fourth to be deployed strategically. And of course you can test drive them yourself at our convention in June.
Speaking of conventions, another "miracle"! When we met last June, we seriously considered dispensing with in-person conventions. However we made enough profit at that convention to encourage us to negotiate a contract for 2020 at the same hotel: the Doubletree in Fresno. Not only that, but we are in the process of negotiating a two to three year contract with them. Yes this means going to the same place for possibly up to five years, but with rising costs, especially in the major cities of both southern and northern California for even with the Doubletree booked through 2025, we feel this may be the only way to preserve our grassroots in-person convention. And Fresno is at least centrally-located and in-staters can get there by bus or train at relatively low cost.
And what a legislative year we've had with final victory (mostly) for guide dog handlers whose dogs are attacked even when not in harness. We also got authority for orientation and mobility instructors to teach their students in meaningful locations off campus. See Jeff's article elsewhere in this issue for the latest legislative news!
In terms of long-term financial planning, we received word that we are included in the estate of one of our members, and I know of another member who is remembering us in her estate planning. Such long-term planning is vital to our survival. We say it in every issue of the BC, but we urgently invite you to remember the Council in your estate and will, and to let us know your intentions so we can acknowledge your generosity while you're still with us.
These accomplishments may be relatively modest, but they are miracle enough to inspire me as I begin my final six months as your president. You can create miracles yourselves: consider serving on committees or running for office in your chapters or even at the state level. Support your chapters and affiliates. As your leader, I know the entire CCB army is marching: with chapters and affiliates as individual units lead by your officers and boards. As your statewide board moves forward, we look back and are gratified to see the entire CCB army moving with us.
