National Federation of the Blind to Hold THE CANE EVENT

Join Us for a Night of Gaming, Music, and Fun

BALTIMORE, April 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) will host THE CANE EVENT on May 1, 2010, at the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute in the Federal Hill area of Baltimore.  The event will commemorate the NFB's seventieth anniversary.  More than three hundred friends, colleagues, and blind people from across the nation are expected to attend.  

THE CANE EVENT will feature a variety of casino games, giving attendees a chance to try their hand at poker or blackjack and even win prizes! There will also be silent and live auctions (featuring sports memorabilia, vintage French wines, and vacation packages), a piano bar, and more. 

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: "We are pleased and proud to welcome our friends from the Baltimore community, as well as members and friends from all over the country, to THE CANE EVENT.  The evening will be a remarkable celebration and will serve to highlight the significant progress blind Americans have made in the past seventy years.  We have come a long way from the lives of poverty and isolation that we led when the Federation was founded in 1940; we have access to more opportunity than at any time in human history.  At the same time, blind Americans still face a staggering unemployment rate of 70 percent and only one in ten blind children learns Braille.  THE CANE EVENT is an opportunity to commemorate our successes and raise funds for our continuing effort to improve education, technology, and training for the blind.  Please join us at THE CANE EVENT as we celebrate our seventieth year and continue to work toward a brighter future for all blind people in America."

Proceeds from this event benefit the National Federation of the Blind Imagination Fund.  This fund supports the programs of the NFB Jernigan Institute, as well as grassroots efforts by our fifty-two affiliates and seven hundred chapters across the country. 

For more information about this exciting event, please contact Karen Zakhnini by phone at (410) 659-9314, extension 2297, or by e-mail at [email protected].  Tickets may be purchased online at www.nfb.org; or by phone through Becca Cordell at (410) 659-9314, extension 2312; or by e-mail at [email protected].  

About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States.  The NFB improves blind people's lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.

SOURCE National Federation of the Blind