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Spotlight
News
President: Debbie
Conrad Editor:
Bob Sweeney
Executive Director: Doug
Fowler Reader: Hank
Elgersman
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President’s Message:
Dear VIP
Member:
On May 24th,
2008 we will have our annual VIP Election of officers and
board members. All candidates are being elected for a
two-year term. Just as a reminder, here are the positions up
for election:
1st Vice President, Secretary, Director #2,
Director #4.
I encourage
all of you to come out and participate in the election of
YOUR Board of Directors.
I would like
to thank ALL of the staff for their hard work and love that
went into making our Volunteer Brunch such an enjoyable time
for everyone. We are truly blessed to have our volunteers
and our Staff. If not for them and their dedication and
commitment, the VIP would not continue to grow and have
continued success in our community. Thanks again Guys and
Gals!
Lastly,
Beginning July 1, 2008 the cost of meals for our Saturday
events will increase to $4.00. Due to the rising cost of
food, fuel & supplies we will have to increase the meal
ticket price. This was a tough decision but The Board felt
that in order for us to continue these Saturday events it is
a necessary change. Holiday events (November & December)
will be $6.00.
Deborah
Conrad
President VIP Board of Directors
From the Executive Director’s Desk:
Every day, a smile of excitement is
shared by people helped at the VIP Center of Southwest
Florida. Serving as the Director in this time of
economic turbulence, I find the motivating spirit for
our services is the progress people make in getting
their life back.
Last week, our Braille Instructor Virginia celebrated
her one year wedding anniversary to Dave who is on our
maintenance staff. Funny thing, she met her husband at
the VIP Center! They celebrated by doing a couples
country dance at the Saturday social!
Michael is progressing with his
pre-transplant process. Your support has been critical
to saving his life.
Nearly seventy people, including
many eye doctors, attended the Eyeball 2008! Karky,
the blind leader of the White House Band, along with the
support of the Cataract and Refractive Institute of
Florida, Retina Consultants, and Spiro & Associates made
the night a success!
The carpet is wearing in our front
office! That is great! Why? Because we are seeing
nearly 55% more people so far this year than last year
at this time! In addition to this growth, a group of
residents of Collier County have come together to
develop a center!
These are just a few of the great
things happening with the VIP Center! Please come in
and visit sometime. In the meantime, enjoy the spirit
of the VIP Center as you read ‘the rest of the”
newsletter.
Douglas Fowler, Executive Director
Sunshine Lady
Please do not forget to let our Sunshine
Lady (Debbie Reed) know if you hear of any member’s illness
or bereavement so she can send an appropriate card in a
timely manner.
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May Happenings
Arts & Crafts:
Mondays & Tuesdays: 12:30 to 2:30p.m.
Client Advocacy
Program: Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Saturday, May 10th
Luncheon: 11:30 to 2:00p.m.
Chicken and Scalloped
Pineapple
Please note earlier time
for this day. There will be no games or door prizes due to:
SPECIAL ENTERTAINMENT: from 12:30 to 1:30
“Beyond the Dawn: Amelia Earhart”
Presented by David Helms
Sponsored by Talking Book Library
Open to the public
Mother’s Day: Sunday
May 11th
Saturday, May 24th
Luncheon: 12:00 to 2:00p.m.
Lions Choice Ham
Sandwich
Business Meeting: VIP
Election of officers and Board Members
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CLIENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM
We will
provide a service to clients who need help with reading and
writing tasks
Service will be
provided: Wednesday
From 9:30a.m.-11:30a.m.
Each client will
receive 40 min. service
Appointment in advance will be requested!
Appointments will be
set up in Reception Area
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News Letter Team
Dave Reed, Debbie Reed, Sue
Wild, Ginny Belcher
Bob Sweeney, Reader:
Hank Elgersma
Transition Students Enjoy a Day at Lee County Fair
By Latricia Whipple
The
Transition students spent their Saturday afternoon at the
Lee County Fair. Once at the Fair the students enjoyed
riding different rides, eating good food, playing games and
waiting.
It
was such fun to watch as they screamed as a ride whisked
them away into the air or sent them flying around a
convoluted track at break neck speed. This was a first for
some but most of them were ready for the adventure.
The
students ended the evening by dining at FIVE GUYS BURGERS
AND FRIES. Which by the way, is really good food.
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Independent Living Program
Graduates Class
The
first Independent Living class to graduate in 2008 marched
in to the Price room to the strains of Pomp and
Circumstances and took their seats. Graduates Jean Beatty,
Judy Bezdek, Cyndi Osterhaus, Frieda Postma and Dan Snead
were precariously balancing the traditional card board
mortar boards on their heads. The not so formal ceremony,
led by Executive Director Doug Fowler, was a bittersweet
experience. After receiving a certificate and having Doug
move their tassel, each had the opportunity to respond to
Doug’s request for one positive experience while in class.
They
all agreed that initially they were not sure they wanted to
participate in any classes. Once they got started, they
discovered how seemingly inconsequential little tips helped
them stay independent and gave them back their self
confidence. While proud of their accomplishments and feeling
more independent than when they started classes, they were
also a bit sad that the bi-weekly meetings with new friends
were ending.
This
group came up with a solution to that dilemma and decided to
continue coming to the ARCS program at least once a week and
some of them are going to take on the challenge of learning
to paint.
Of course at VIP you can’t
have graduation without a party. It’s usually a pleasant
affair with cake, coffee and chatter. This time the
graduates, supporters and staff were treated to a
scrumptious fruit basket cake thanks to graduate Judy Bezdek.
And a good time was had by all!
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Correction on Passport fares!
The raise to $2.50 per ride will not go into effect until
October 1st 2008!
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RIDER ALERT!
Proposed Elimination of Bus Route 150 Service
A public hearing has been set for May 13, 2008 at
5:00p.m. to solicit public comment on the proposed
elimination of Bus Route 150 – Bonita Springs, effective May
31, 2008. Interested persons may appear in person or through
a representative and be heard at the public hearing to be
held at:
the Board of County Commissioners Chambers,
located in downtown Fort Myers, at 2120 Main Street.
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Braille Department has openings for new clients!
by Virginia Reed
Improve your self esteem, and learn to live more
independently by learning Braille. The Braille
Department offers classes in Braille 1 and 2, plus a
condensed version for those who only want to mark their
clothing and medicines. Contact Diana Crofton for
information about these classes.
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For Sale
1994 Dodge Ram 350 Van
V8 318 engine
One owner, with only
63,000 miles!
A new floor was installed
in 2005 and a
New A/C Compressor in
2007.
It has good tires, and
everything works fine.
Call 239-997-7797
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2008 Board of Directors
President: Debbie Conrad
1st Vice President: Bill Crysler
2nd Vice President: Bob Sweeney
Treasurer: Bobbie Davis
Secretary: Freddie Conner
Director: Freda Van Pelt
Director: Felix Gonzalez
Director: Margie Hinklein
Executive Director: Douglas Fowler
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Mini Bio
by Debbie Reed
Who knows the guy who volunteers, works in maintenance, and
does the 50/50 & Joker’s Wild? None other than Dave Reed!
Dave started coming to the VIP in August of 2005 with his
daughter Debbie who is visually impaired. He volunteered
first with the card group on Fridays and then became
involved with the newsletter and many other groups and
committees. Now he is an employee in the maintenance
department.
Dave was born in Warren, Ohio, and lived there until coming
to Florida. While attending school, he spent 4 months a
year living on an island in northern Ontario, where he
worked as a fishing guide for the family business.
Dave
had a brother who was 16 years older, so was raised as an
only child. He graduated from Warren Township High School,
and spent 8 years in the US Naval Reserve. After school Dave
worked in a steel mill, and then got into the auto parts
business. He was a VW dealership Parts Manager for over 15
years. Here in Florida Dave worked at a jobber parts store
for over 20 years, as counterman, manager, and then owner.
Dave
and his family moved to North Fort Myers in
January 1974,
so they could boat and fish year around, and to get away
from those cold winters. Dave’s wife of 39 years, passed
away in 1998.
On
April 6, 2007
he only had one daughter, and his only grandchild was a dog
named Sadie! On April
7th 2007
he married his lovely wife Virginia, whom he met at the VIP
center and fell madly in love with. Today he has 5
daughters, 10 grandchildren, 7 great grand children, and 2
dogs, Sadie & Chad.
What
some of you don't know is that Dave is quite the artist, and
has sold many of his paintings. He also loves to go
shooting, but as Dave says, he has little time for either
these days.
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Attention all Members that receive their
NEWSLETTER
By audio tape!
All tapes need to be rewound, and returned in the same
box that you receive them in!
Thank you for your cooperation!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lamoureux and Crase
fill vacant Board Seats
by Dave Reed
At the business meeting on Saturday April 26th,
Gerald Lamoureux and Walter Crase were elected to
fill the vacant Board seats Director #1, and
Director #5. Both of those seats have a one year
term remaining. We are all looking forward to
working with them. The regular election for
officers and board members will be held at the
business meeting on Saturday May 24th
2008.
FRAUD ALERT!
From the Office of Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott
Medical Identity Theft
There’s a
trend in identity theft that is growing and becoming a
monster to tame.
“As we
all know growing older and visiting doctors seem to go
hand in hand, but that doesn’t mean only seniors are
falling victim to these thieves, it really does not
matter how old you are or how your health is,” says
Sheriff Scott.
Medical
identity theft happens when ID thieves use your identity
to receive medical care or services, including
prescriptions in your name. All of this activity changes
your medical records and may even cause your insurance
benefits to cap.
There are
some real horror stories of people who have gone to
their doctor with an ailment only to have their
insurance company deny their treatment because they have
capped due to someone using their insurance or people
who have been denied credit because someone used their
social security number to receive medical treatment or
services and did not pay their bill.
Then once
they discover their medical identity has been
compromised they begin the onerous task of repairing
their credit, removing false information from their
medical records and insurance records, and clearing
their name of any wrong doing. Here are some simple
steps we all can take to protect our medical identity:
§
Monitor
all “Explanation of Benefits” (EOB) statements.
§
Request
a list annually of all benefits paid on your behalf
from your insurance carrier.
§
Order
a copy of your credit report annually.
§
Before
tossing your old prescription bottles remove all writing
from the labels.
§
Shred
all labels and papers that come with your
prescriptions.
To learn
more about medical identity theft or identity theft in
general you can log onto our website:
www.sheriffleefl.org
or call
Community Relations at 239-477-1477 to arrange for a
Crime Prevention Specialist to talk to your group about
how you can best protect your identity. For assistance
call the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Fraud Line:
239-477-1242
 Happy
May Birthday!
Ginny Belcher Louise Davis Doris
DeBello
Margaret Emerson Carol Sue Henry
Kim Kirton Gerald Lamoureux Evelyn McLeish
Pearl Palmer Edward Sanders
Dottie Schroeder Belle Sorokin
James Tatum
Gerald Walters Opal West
Staff Birthdays in May
Sue Wild
VIP Greeting Cards
Help support your VIP, fill all your greeting card
needs at the VIP Center!
Happy Valentines Day!
Don’t forget
to stock up on all your greeting card needs at the VIP
Center. We still have some new cards available at 10
for $1.00, and our VIP recycled cards are only 5 for
$1.00!
Support your VIP now!
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Just Between You and
Me
Doris 332-7816
Visually Impaired Persons of Southwest Florida, Inc
35 West Mariana Ave.,
North Fort Myers, FL 33903
Phone: 239-997-7797
Fax: 239-997-8462
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