The Board of Directors for The American Council of the Blind of Indiana met
on January 26, 2002, at the Columbia Club in Indianapolis, IN. Those
present were:

Officers:

Dolly Sowder, President
Gerry Koors, Vice-President
Anne Elliott, Secretary
Don Koors, Treasurer

Directors:

Deanna Austin
Maurice Brockman
Benny Demaree
Edie Huffman
Debbie Morgan
Josephine Price

Guests:

Ada Bailey
Pat Dienhart
Mike Sowder

Mike Sowder read the agenda.

Anne Elliott read the secretary's report from the November 10, 2001 meeting.

Don Koors gave the treasurer's report. Dec. 31, 2001:

Balance in checking account $928.34
Balance in savings account $371.93
Balance in endowment accounts $19,295.36
Total of $20,595.63

Henry W. Hofstetter Opportunity Grant Fund:

Balance in General Fund $2,568.00
Balance in Opportunity Grant Endowment Fund $4,649.49

A motion was made, seconded, and all were in favor of accepting the
secretary's report and the treasurer's report.

Interest rates have dropped substantially. A motion was made that the
treasurer, in consultation with the officers, is allowed to make an interim
investment change. The motion was seconded and all were in favor.

Don Koors, treasurer recommended that we move $3,000 into a Fannie May, if
we can get 6% or greater. A motion was made, seconded, and all were in
favor.

Opportunity Grant:

The application for grant money in calendar year 1999 has cleared and is
going to be released for purchase to the applicant, along with more than
double our contribution by the South Central Chapter. We will be taking
$1000 out of the general operating account to give to the South Central
Chapter, who in turn will make the major purchase, computer equipment for
this recipient. The recipient is third grade twin boys who have retinitis
pigmentosa.

Bloomington regarding hiatus of Chapter:

Brock will ask Julie Wetzel to write a check to ACBI for the balance of the
Bloomington Chapter's account. The money was to go to the Hank Hofstetter
Endowment Fund.

Vehicle Donation report by Mike Sowder:

Mike wrote approximately 120 thank you letters. The program people do not
keep an inventory. However, they will check to see if an inventory is
something they can provide us. We are doing better, we are negative
$7,281.75.

ACBI Brochure Report:

Everything is ready to go to the printer. The privileges are being
reorganized. The number one membership privilege was wiped out and a
substitution was made of access to the ACBI web site for relevant
information and news. Also, editorial corrections were made to the
application. A motion was made to accept these changes, seconded, and all
were in favor.

Focus:

Mike Sowder read Pat Price's E-mail asking for help in the production
process and providing statistics. Don Koors reviewed the cost factors.
Kinko's is the cheapest to duplicate, collate, and staple The Focus. Don
suggested we go from letter to legal size sheets of paper. The cost of
cassettes to meet our needs is $.50 times 90, which is $45. He is checking
to see if we can use the tape-duplicating machine at the State Library. We
can probably keep the cost of three issues at approximately $700. Pat is
willing to do the address labels. Edie volunteered to read The Focus on
tape. If we encourage E-mail copies, we will reduce the number of tapes
and/or print copies. Don will talk with Pat about putting a brief notice in
The Focus about selection of format and E-mail, saving the organization
money. A motion was made to accept this proposal for future publications of
The Focus, seconded, and all were in favor.

Legislative Committee Report:

Don Koors will be attending the legislative seminar in Washington DC, March
3-5, 2002.

Proposed Budget:

Don Koors, treasurer presented the budget proposal.

$500 for the President or the President's designee to attend the national meeting.

$300 for the legislative seminar.

$700 for The Focus.

$250 contribution for the Hoffstetter Fund.

$250 to cover additional cost of the state convention.

$100 for administration.

$2,100 total spending.

The estimated known income is as follows:

$400 dues/profits
$400 donations
$1,060 interest
$1,860 total estimated known income.

We have some unknowns on income. We do not know the potential projected income from the fund raising letters, the Marsh letter, and the car project.

We would be about $240 short of projected income. We discussed the proposed budget.

A motion was made, seconded, and all were in favor of accepting the new budget.

Mike Sowder read an article from the ACB-List, "Voting Access Coming To
Alaska" by Sandy Sanderson.

Brock read the menu.

Dolly Sowder is going to send everyone a list of the committees.

Mike Sowder read the committee assignments.

Membership Development Committee Report:

Nothing to report.

Constitution and By Law Committee Report:

The constitution and by law committee is prepared to recommend to the state
convention the change that was voted on at the last state convention.

Resolutions Committee:

Nothing to report.

We discussed options for focusing on young people. Don Koors will check
with Jim Durst about a complimentary Focus.

Fund Raising Letter:

Don Koors, treasurer has sent out 67 letters.

Marsh Stores:

Brock reported that Pat Price included the Marsh form in The Focus. The
forms have been passed out to the support group, family, and friends.

Grants:

Edie has a couple things to check, including money for newsletters and the
support group.

Seminars and Workshops:

Don Koors shared the AFB pamphlet, "What do you do when you see a blind
person?" We could do an educational pamphlet to distribute to optometrist
and ophthalmologist at no cost to them, for visually impaired and sighted
individuals.

Convention 2002:

Edie will contact the librarian and Lion's Club. Don will check with Karen
May. Dolly will check with someone regarding the self-defense and
protection topic. If Stephen Speicher is at the President's meeting, Dolly
will ask him to speak at our 2002 convention. Gerri will give the
information to Carol to put in the Hoosier Highlights.

Convention 2003:

We discussed information about three hotels. The order of preference is as
follows:

1) The Goshen Inn and Conference Center
2) Ramada Inn in Elkhart
3) Inn at Amish Acres

Sandy is checking on the Notre Dame schedule.

Goals for 2002:

We discussed whether or not we are on target.

Channel 59:

Star Wars was suposed to be on DVS on TV channel 59 Indianapolis and it was
not audio described. Dolly will try to pursue this issue and ask Byron Smith to help.

Mike Sowder read a letter from Pat Price, "Results of Discussion List

Survey." Earlene could set up the list. Anybody wanting to be on the list
would have to request it. An E-mail can be sent informing people how to subscribe. The information could be put in The Focus. A motion was made to set up a discussion list, seconded and all were in favor.

Senate Bill 490 was introduced in the general assembly, which would appoint a commision for the blind. It was assigned to a committee. However, no hearing date is on the calendar. A dollar amount was not put to the impact statement. A stand alone agency would still need to follow state and federal regulations.

West Central Chapter Report:

Debbie Morgan reported a successful educational project at the Tippecanoe County Library. They distributed literature and brailled children's names. Members of The West Central Chapter are speaking about blindness in the schools. One meeting, they had a speaker from their bus company. Next meeting, they are writing a newspaper article for Disability Awareness Month.

South Central Chapter:

South Central Chapter reported a successful white cane day. They are planning on getting more information out for Disability Awareness Month in March. In February they plan to have a speaker from Ameritech.

Circle City Chapter:

Circle City Chapter reported that they are working on possibilities of doing something educational for children in a library setting. In February they plan to have a speaker from the Indiana School for the Blind, Preschool Outreach Program.

Brock read a letter from Davis Macheso from Malwi, Central Africa.

Dates for upcoming meetings:

Next board meeting April 27, 2002, July 27, 2002, and November 16, 2002

State Convention; September 27 and 28, 2002

Meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Anne Elliott, Secretary