National Federation of the Blind
MISSION
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.
WHERE YOUR SUPPORT GOES
- The world’s largest audio information service for the blind, NFB-NEWSLINE®, is free to anyone who is legally blind. NFB-NEWSLINE® makes over four hundred newspapers and magazines, as well as TV schedules, localized emergency weather alerts, and job listings, available on demand to blind readers by telephone, online, or via an iPhone/iPad app.
- A free white cane, the basic tool for independent travel by the blind.
- A free slate and stylus, the basic tools for writing Braille.
- The National Federation of the Blind Independence Market, which offers hundreds of products especially designed for the blind.
- Thirty national scholarships, totaling over $100,000, for outstanding blind students, as well as other scholarships through our state affiliates.
- Innovative programs for blind children and youth, including the Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) program for beginning Braille readers and a number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs especially designed for blind students of all ages.
THE RESULTS
Each year the National Federation of the Blind distributes Dr. Jacob Bolotin cash awards at its annual convention. These awards recognize individuals and organizations working in the field of blindness that have made outstanding contributions toward achieving the full integration of the blind into society on a basis of equality. The Jacob Bolotin Award Program is funded through the generosity of Dr. Bolotin’s nephew and niece, Alfred and Rosalind Perlman. The late Mrs. Perlman established the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust to endow the award program.