[bksvol-discuss] Re: Support Needed For Our Volunteers and Members
- From: "Georgina" <culmer@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:35:00 -0600
Here is a websight that shows you how to cook food for the month and then
freeze it.
http://www.30daygourmet.com/
hth
Georgina
I'm not a pessimist just an optimist for the worst
----- Original Message -----
From: Monica Willyard
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: volunteer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; Louise Gourdoux ; Bookshare Discuss
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 5:48 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Support Needed For Our Volunteers and Members
Hi everybody. It has recently come to my attention that we have several
volunteers and Bookshare members who are struggling with the basics of life
such as affording groceries, medicine, and paying for utilities. Some have lost
their jobs, and others are retired and struggle with living on a small pension
with the rising costs of heating their home in the winter months. Volunteers
and members are the lifeblood of Bookshare, and it weakens us as a group if our
mates are in trouble. It's hard for folks to volunteer when they're hungry,
cold, or ill. I'd like to propose that we do a couple of things to help our
fellow Booksharians out of their bind.
First, I would like to see those of us who are able focus a little of our
time and efforts on providing some books that show people how to use various
services including government subsidies, utility assistance programs. private
charities, and community-based co-ops to help people keep their heads above
water. Co-ops have always been with us, but most Americans have forgotten about
their power since we live such different lives from our grandparents. They are
making a comeback now, and this is a great idea for people with disabilities
because we have talents to share and can participate fully. Our senior citizens
need help with finding ways to lower medical bills and about how to work with
Medicare. The Medicare web site is very confusing to most people, and it's even
worse for people with reading disabilities. These are key areas where
information is needed to help dig our volunteers out of the mire.
The second thing I'd like to propose is that we try to add some books on
budget cooking, basics of cooking, and meal planning to help people with
limited resources to make the most of what they have. Some of us use food
stamps, and we may benefit from learning how to get more groceries for our
stamps and may need to learn how to cook some of these foods. Switching from
convenience foods to "real food" means a change in how we cook and what we eat.
Many blind people don't have these skills yet and are stuck eating TV dinners
and paying the higher costs. Some don't know that you pay double for buying
ready-to-eat soup as opposed to buying condensed soup and providing your own
water or milk. Many blind people don't know these things because they haven't
been taught, and they can't see the items and prices around them on grocery
store shelves. So many little things that seem obvious to a sighted person are
a new discovery for many blind people. I didn't know until 2 days ago that they
make strawberry cough drops. (grin)
Do you think these ideas have merit? Do you have more ideas to share that
could help to support our volunteers? Do you have needs for daily living skills
that Bookshare isn't filling right now? What could we do to support you better?
Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker
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