BLINDED VETERANS ASSOCIATION
Chartered by the United States Congress
FLORIDA REGIONAL GROUP
3801 Coco Grove Avenue
Miami, Florida 33133
FRG web site: www.bvafrg.org
FRG Newsletter -
August 2011
FRG President's Message: I hope that all is well with
everyone. I am glad to report that all 6
districts have district directors in place.
Since the FRG Convention, 2 Directors have been added, Ken Breakey
Northwest District and Aaron Cornelius the Central West District. Feel free to do anything that you can to make their heavy load easier. All suggestions are welcome. Remember you are all needed to help with the
work of the BVA-FRG. I have asked all
directors to do
the best they can to try to acquire
space in the local VA Medical Centers or Clinics for a FRG office. We are still awaiting responses. I was glad to hear from a couple of members
who felt that my message of blinded vets getting more physically fit has been
taken to heart. Paul Kaufman who is a
certified diver has spoken with his dive instructors about teaching his VIST
Support Group how to scuba. The Scuba
Shack will teach the vets and their spouses or care givers for free. Susan
Roberts the Chief of the Florida Talking Book Library reports
that the TB Library will soon start a pilot project to
record locally produced newsletters and magazines in the digital format. She has asked the FRG permission to join that
pilot project by having our FRG Newsletter recorded in that format. For the immediate future, it will be still
recorded on cassette. I urge everyone to
request a digital player. Veterans have
priority and can get a digital player quickly.
You can call the TB Library at 1-(800) 226-6075 to get your digital
player. If you need assistance, call one
of the officers listed at the end of this article. I am awaiting the National convention in Las
Vegas in August. I am looking forward to
attending the Orlando Luncheon on September 3rd. Hope that you can make it, and help The FRG
Auxiliary by buying plenty of raffle tickets to fund their Scholarship Program. I am asking everyone with a computer, to send
to all the contacts in their address book, no matter if they are a veteran or
not, a BVA history
information attachment, and ask them to send it to everyone in
their address book also. If everyone
does this, we may just reach someone’s family that may not know of the BVA and
the VIST program. Following is contact
information for the FRG Officers and Directors.
President Darryl Goldsmith
- Pensacola (850) 554-7819 email dandv5@cox. net; Vice President Gigi Mathis - Lakeland (863-255-9275 email
gigig285@aol.com; Secretary-Treasurer George Stocking - Miami (305)
446-8008 email gstocking@bellsouth.net;
Past President Terry King – Punta Gorda (941) 505-7747 email tnking18@earthlink.net; Northwest District Ken Breakey - Milton (850)
623-1886 email papabreaks@aol.com; Northeast District Joe Brack - Glen St Mary (904)
259-1404 email eocjoeb@nescom.net; Central West District Aaron Cornelius -
Bradenton (912) 695-3171 email sfcaaron1969@gmail.com; Central
East District Charles Brooks - Kissimmee (407) 847-0761 email eagle77732@yahoo.com;
Southwest District Bob Walczak - Port Charlotte (941)
875-9876 email milwallyg@comcast.net; Southeast District Jerry Abney - Miami
(305) 270-1739 email abneyj @bellsouth.net. Well that’s all for now. Darryl Goldsmith, FRG
President
FRG
Auxiliary President's Message: I
recently received some valuable information from FRG Northeast District
Director Joe Brack. Below is a link to a
71 page document put
out by VIST. This Spouses' Guide has been compiled from numerous sources. It
includes a list of acronyms used in veterans' programs and services, definitions,
and benefit
information available from Veterans Affairs,
Department of Defense, Social Security; information about healthcare
and education benefits and links to
various other websites for even more
information. Whew! Government bureaucracy is complicated but it's nice
to have a starting
point. www.mvsoa.us/resources/SPOUSE_GUIDE-2011. If you learn information that may be of use
to our members, please
contact me so that we can share it in this newsletter. Remember,
the National BVA Auxiliary has its own website as do we in Florida. We are also
on Facebook and Twitter. Here are more
links: www.bvaaux.org. Our FRG Auxiliary web site is: www.frgbvaauxiliary.org. www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Florida-Regional-Group-Blinded-Veterans-Association-Auxiliary/123288861019136; http://twitter.com/#!/FRGBVAAuxiliary. Fran Thomas , FRG
Auxiliary President email PghFran9@aol.com_ (239) 283-1708.
FRG Meeting Notice: The first Informational
Meeting for the Florida Regional Group this fall , will be held on Saturday,
September 3, at the Rosen Plaza Hotel 9700
International Drive in Orlando. Central
East Director Charles Brooks has made the arrangements for this luncheon. The meeting will begin with a period of
socializing at 11:30 AM, followed by lunch at noon. For lunch, you may have either breast
of chicken picatta with herb roasted potatoes, or sliced roast sirloin with
wild mushroom sauce and cheddar mashed potatoes each with garden salad, Mixed
Vegetables, rolls and butter, ice tea or coffee, and carrot cake with cream
cheese icing or
no sugar added cake. The price of the lunch will be $5 per person,
including tax and tip.
FRG President Darryl Goldsmith will preside at the informational meeting
following lunch. Representatives from
the Department of Veterans Affairs will be on hand to provide information about
services and benefits of interest to BV's and their families. A National Legislative Up-Date will be provided. A report will be presented regarding the BVA
National Convention in Las Vegas. Future
FRG activities will be discussed.
Information about the FRG Auxiliary will be presented. Charles Brooks has made Arrangements with the
reservation office at the hotel, at $89 per night for Friday and/or Saturday
nights. If you are coming from out of
town and wish to stay over night call the hotel reservation office at (407)
996-1703 and make a reservation giving the BVA-FRG as the organization which
made the arrangements. Cut off date for reservations is August 10.
The hotel has asked us to notify them as to the number who will
be attending and the type of lunch desired before August 31. Please make your reservations prior to that
date by writing to Charles Brooks at 3500 Linnet, Kissimmee, FL 34746 or call at (407) 847-0761
email eagle77732@yahoo.com. You may also
make your reservation by calling Rick Cassidy (407)877-8448. Please give the name of each person who will
attend and the choice of meal desired. The
restaurant needs the reservation information in order to prepare properly for
our meeting.
To
get to the Rosen Plaza Hotel from Tampa and the Gulf Coast, take I 4 East to
exit 72, take 528 East (Bee line Expressway) to exit no. 1 - International
Drive. Turn right on International Drive, the Rosen Plaza will be on your left after the
Convention Center. From Daytona or the
East Coast, take I 4 and continue as above.
From the North or South on the Turnpike, go to exit 259. Take I 4 West to
exit 72 and continue as above. Note: The Orlando Convention Center is between the
Rosen Plaza Hotel and the Rosen Center Hotel.
Our meeting is in the Rosen Plaza, so be sure you have the correct
hotel. Free Parking is available behind
the hotel. Check with your fellow
Blinded veterans, family members, and friends and make plans to join us in
Orlando on Saturday,
September 3.
National Legislative Up-Date:
At the writing of this Newsletter, the President and Congress are bogged
down on discussions about raising the national debt limit, reducing spending
and raising taxes. Several bills to
improve services for veterans, including a bill to provide beneficiary travel
for Blinded Veterans above the income limit to attend a Blind Rehab Center,
introduced into the Senate are being held up by the Chairman of the Senate
Veterans affairs committee due to the impact on the deficit. Otherwise, little in the way of legislation
for veterans is being considered. The VA
Central Office (VACO) has proposed regulations to govern the issuance of service
animals to veterans, including guide dogs.
Some of the provisions of these regulations are appropriate, i.e.
requiring accreditation for the schools training service animals. The present Guide Dog Schools have long been accredited
and the regulation would keep fly-by-night schools from trying to get VA
funding for dogs that are not properly trained.
However, a provision to refuse a guide dog to a BV who have good cane travel skills is not appropriate. Further, there is a provision to stop funding
veterinarian services for BV's guide dogs.
The BVA will oppose those sections of the proposed regulations. In addition the VACO has slipped a proposal
in the Service Dog regulation to eliminate the provision of mechanical and
electronic devices to non service connected veterans. During the 107 Congress (2001-2003) the BVA
secured passage of PL 107-135 which included a section to provide mechanical
and electronic devices to improve the independence of Blinded Veterans who are
non service connected on an in or outpatient basis. the VA Central
Office has slipped in a provision to change that law and return to the period
when NSC BV's could not be issued such equipment on an out patient basis. PL 107-135 clearly provides that benefit to
NSC BV's. Generally, a VA Regulation
cannot change a Public Law. However if
the regulation is approved, it might take several years to get it reversed. The BVA will work with the VA Central Office
to eliminate that section in a Regulation which is related to the issuance of
service animals. It should not include a
provision not related to service animals and clearly targets only Blinded
Veterans. The BVA will also alert
Congress that the VACO is attempting to change a Public Law by VA regulation. The BVA will continue to advocate for Blinded
Veterans to help us maintain the services and benefits that were so difficult
to acquire. Watch for additional
information in future BVA Bulletins and FRG Newsletters.
Message from Kirk Harmon : I am a Life Member of the Blinded Veterans
Association (BVA) a former FRG Central East District Director, and now live in
Jacksonville. Recently, I formed Florida
Disabled Citizens for Progress Inc. (FDCP), a non profit organization to
collect and distribute sensory aids and devices to Florida blind citizens. The Florida Regional Group (FRG), BVA has
joined with other organizations of and for the blind in Florida to support the
FDCP to provide equipment to Florida's blind citizens. Through the advocacy of the BVA, we as Blinded
Veterans (BV's), has had access to this equipment issued by the VA for many
years. Many Florida blind citizens do
not have the financial resources nor other access to large print and voice
output computers, CCTV's, other reading aids, recording equipment, and other
aids and devices. The main priority and
objective of the Florida disabled Citizens for Progress, is to enhance the
lives of our blind community in Florida by providing the equipment we no longer
use nor for which we
no longer have a need, either by a digression in our sight, or, a
more serious situation, in which we are all aware, we pass on. My hope is that we will be able to allow our
civilian counterparts the same opportunity of independence at home and gain the
mobility tools to utilize while their out.
As we all know, we have been blessed, due to the efforts of our
BVA. We should try to help with our
local communities blind counterparts that have no financial ability to access
this equipment by our
giving them the wonderful gift of independence that we have all
had the privilege and opportunity to enjoy!
If you agree and feel that you would like to participate in this new
program by helping us develop a state inventory list, You can join with us by
networking with our FRG Districts and help the people in need in your
community. At the recent FRG State
Convention, Donald Freyberger, the VA Prosthetics Representative for Florida,
indicated that, at present, the VA does not want this equipment returned. This does not mean that you can request new
equipment in order to donate your present usable equipment. However if you are no longer using that
equipment, it would be helpful to donate it so that others can benefit from its
use. I have had an enormous positive
input from all
of our State blind leaders, willing to help our less fortunate counterparts. We
all will be holding hands together to bring independence to all our blind
friends in our communities! Please give
me a call on the Toll Free number at 1-888-955-3327
or write to Kirk
Harmon at: Florida Disabled Citizens For
Progress, P.O. Box 61794, Jacksonville, Fl 32236. The FDCP has volunteers in
every District and I will give you the contact information for your team leader
to arrange pick up for your convenience anywhere in Florida. We need your help
for us to ensure success. I want to
thank any or all of you for considering helping these blind seniors and school
children less fortunate than ourselves. Just remember ,
we will also be promoting our BVA-FRG in such a wonderfully positive manner
that our efforts will shine to everyone in our State and blind community! Kirk Harmon BVA-FRG Life Member.
FRG Southwest District Walk-A-Thon: Attention FRG
Southwest District members! The annual
Walk-A-Thon will be held in Ft. Myers on Saturday, October 15, 2011 from 9 AM
to 2 PM. We urge all Blinded veterans to
participate in this fund raising venture.
The entire share amount of the funds received by the BVA-FRG shall be
used toward providing bus transportation for Southwest district Blinded Veterans and their families to the FRG State Convention
in Daytona Beach next spring. Last year,
we received $1000 from the Walk-A-Thon and hope to receive at least $1500 this
year. Please help us reach this goal. For information, contact Terry King at (941)
505-7747; Bob
Walczak at (941) 875-9876 or Former VIST
Joyce Thornton Gilbert at (239) 995-7722.
Remember to mark your calendar for Saturday, September 3, so that you,
your family members, and friends, may attend the FRG meeting at the
Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando. Be sure to
call those listed above and make your reservations, before August31. If you make a reservation and can't come,
please call and cancel your reservation before that date . The FRG will pay $15 for each meal we
guarantee. We don't want to pay for meals not
used. Join us at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in
Orlando on September 3 for an informative, interesting, and enjoyable
afternoon.
FRG Meeting
Schedule
September 3 FRG Meeting Rosen
Plaza Hotel in Orlando
October 1 FRG Meeting Quality Inn Commonwealth in Jacksonville
November 5 FRG Meeting at the Palm's
Restaurant in North Ft. Myers
December 4 Proposed FRG meeting in the
St. Petersburg-Clearwater area
January 7 Proposed FRG meeting
Hilton Hotel in Ocala.
February 4 Proposed FRG meeting in
Tampa
FRG Newsletter Staff
Darryl Goldsmith FRG
President
Fran Thomas FRG Auxiliary President
George Stocking Newsletter Editor