New Jersey Recorder 1998-99 Annual Report (text)

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Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
New Jersey Unit
69 Mapleton Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
Phone 609-750-1830
Fax 609-750-9653

New Jersey Recorder

A publication dedicated to our New Jersey family of members, volunteers, staff, and supporters

1998-1999 Annual Report

Corporate Highlight

Congratulations to our satellite studio at the Lucent Technologies site in Holmdel, NJ, on ten years of recording.

In 1988, Bell Lab corporate heads challenged all departments to provide an opportunity for employees to become involved in community programs. Jim Mayer was involved in this process and suggested a studio to record books for then Recording for the Blind. Jims son was visually impaired and used the services of RFB. Of five employee-recommended service projects only the recording project continues today.

The recording booth had been in the medical section where the company used it for employee hearing tests. Since the booth was not always in use, the employees requested to use it for a day or two each week. On June 23, 1989, their first RFB recording was made. When the medical division disbanded, the booth was given to the employee community service group.

The administrative coordination of the off-site recording studio falls under the direction of David Hauge, a member of Lucents technical staff. Jim Mayer, now retired, is still the main volunteer coordinator. Jim does all facets of the volunteer's job checking, monitoring and reading, as well as e-text and volunteer training.

Both David and Jim are confident that more Lucent employees will volunteer and the number of tracks produced for RFB& D at the Holmdel Satellite Studio will grow.

Photo Caption: Warren Cornell, retired Lucent and current Princeton Studio Volunteer, presents Jim Amick, Boar Chair, with a gift from Lucent

A Message from the Executive Director

Less than a year ago the only things I knew about Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) was its shadowy presence in the Princeton Theological Seminary gymnasium basement, and its sign in front of a modern-looking building next to the Princeton post office on Roszel Road. Now Im a member of the RFB&D New Jersey Unit family, and that space in the gym basement has become my office; and the staff at National Headquarters, my colleagues.

I first became part of RFB&D moonlighting as a studio assistant in West Windsor. In late March I succeeded Anne Young as Executive Director, and in the months since have come to love and appreciate the organization, its staff, volunteers, board and supporters.

I come to RFB&D bringing a variety of life experiences. I hold a bachelor's degree in economics from The College of William and Mary, and for six years pursued a career in community banking. Responding to the urge to work in the non-profit sector, I left to earn a Master of Divinity degree from Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. While a student there, I also studied at Regent's Park College at Oxford University, England. After several years as pastor of the Hurdtown United Methodist Church in Lake Hopatcong, I relocated to the Princeton area last year, and found my way to the New Jersey Unit of RFB&D.

In the past months several key staff members also have joined our team, including Tony Gruenewald, Assistant Studio Director, and Stacey Nied, Evening Studio Assistant, both the in the West Windsor Studio; Jessie Falcone, Assistant Studio Director in Princeton; and, Christine Ranaghan, our new Educational Outreach Director. Since the beginning of the year we've also added several new members to our Board of Directors. Almost fifty new volunteers have joined our ranks, along with scores of new individual and institutional members.

With the generous help of Stone's Throw Creative Communications we also have attempted to update our newsletter and this annual report, making it visually more appealing and easier to read.

With all of this newness, one thing has remained timeless our commitment to unlocking the printed word for those who strive for success in spite of disabling conditions. Thank all of you newcomer or oldtimer for joining us in this mission.

Ted Taylor
Executive Director

Board Highlight

At the May 1999, Annual Meeting of the Board of the New Jersey Unit, five new Board Members were welcomed.

Patricia Byers, Vice President and Regional Manager, Summit Bank

Jerome Freedman, M.D., Retired Board Certified Opthamologist

Mari Molenaar, Ed.D., Senior Research Analyst, NJ Department of Education, Special Education

James Walker, J.D., C.P.A., Managing Director, VAT America

John Zahodnick, C.P.A., Retired, Dow Jones

A Report from the Director of Development

I have a sign in my office of a little girl dropping change into her piggy bank. The caption reads,"Giving to others makes me feel good". I believe that most of us feel that way so, you must feel great!

Please accept my sincere thank you for your thoughtfulness and generosity in supporting the New Jersey Unit of RFB&D.

Eileen Gallagher
Director, Financial Development and Public Affairs

Educational Outreach Program

Photo caption: Christine Ranaghan spearheads educational outreach projects

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), a non-profit organization, was first created fifty years ago to help veterans who were blinded in battle. Today, RFB&D has grown into the largest library of textbooks on tape in the United States.

In the 1990s, RFB&D began to focus its services on the learning disability community as well. Today, RFB&D offers an annual institutional membership for schools, which directly supports students with disabilities who benefit from books on tape.

The New Jersey Unit's Educational Outreach programs will focus on prospective member schools in New Jersey. We've received a generous grant of $72,800 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help us get the word out.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and RFB&D are partners for a pilot program that has started in the New Brunswick Public School System. The grant provides services and materials for four schools: Lincoln, Annex, Redshaw and McKinley. Fifteen classrooms will participate in the program, including five regular and ten special education classrooms.

Participating children will be chosen by their teachers and provided with all of their textbooks recorded on tape a wonderful opportunity for students with learning disabilities to achieve academic success because it allows them to learn through listening.

To contact RFB&D-New Jersey's Outreach Director, Christine Ranaghan:
phone: 609-750-0595
fax: 609-750-1838
e-mail:cranaghan@rfbd.org

Putnam Society Announced

In recognition of the bequest from the estate of Peter B. Putnam, the New Jersey Unit has established the Putnam Society.

If you would like more information on naming RFB&D New Jersey in your will, contact Stephanie Campbell, Executive Director, at (609) 750-9614 or e-mail her at scampbell@rfbd.org. An estate planning seminar will be held in November 1999.

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