Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. form letter to colleagues, 2000

(Congress of tl)e ®ntteb States ©oust of &eprc8entattoeB ®HagJ)inston, ©<C 20515-2002 Volunteer Five Minutes to the Blind! Dear Colleague: On behalf of one of the nation’s largest blind organizations, the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind (CLB), I invite you to participate in the launching of a new website dedicated to providing affordable books on audio tape and employment opportunities for blind and visually impaired adults. In order to promote the website, the CLB is asking for your help. Its website features audio clips of elected officials reading short passages from popular children’s books. Please join me in volunteering just five minutes of your time for a CLB staff member to come by your office to record you reading a short children’s story. In addition, you and your staff are invited to be a CLB-honored guest at the launch party held on September 28, 2000 at 5:00-7:00PM in B369 Rayburn. The CLB is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing education, training, and rehabilitation programs and service to individuals who are blind or who have low vision in the Greater Washington metropolitan region and across the country. CLB strives to provide its clients with opportunities that enable them to live independent, fulfilling lives. While most Americans have benefitted by the unprecedented growth in the U.S. economy and the historic low unemployment rates, some Americans have been left behind. Today, 70% of blind adults are unemployed. The CLB is working so these folks too can share in the American dream. Reelbooks.com, a project of the CLB, will retail more than 16,000 audio books and make contemporary titles readily accessible, while providing the blind and visually impaired with valuable training in industries sorely lacking enough trained employees - technology and customer service. The site will also educate other Americans about blindness and low vision and offer employers an opportunity to learn more about this untapped labor pool. I encourage you to contact CLB’s Communications Director, Kim Zimmer, at (202) 462-2900 ext. 3099 to schedule a appointment or to answer any questions. Also, feel free to contact Jill Homan in my office at 5-3061 with any questions. I hope you will join us in enabling greater independence for your constituents who are blind or visually impaired. Thank you for your participation! ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR. 315 Cannon House Office Building ASSISTANT DEPUTY MAJORITY WHIP Robert L. Ehcnch, Jr. Member of Congress