Our first fundraiser, our new site, and upcoming trip to Hyderabad!

The New Website

Ever get to that point where there's literally just so much happening you don't know how to express it all? I'm there. Which is why this blog is kind of a long time coming, there's just a lot going on at one time. First things first. We have a new website, same address, TOTALLY different look. You can see the video on the front page that Michael Copeland put together of last year's trip. Thank you so much to Michael for the video and James Sowers for the help getting the new look up and running. It made my life much easier.

With the new site also comes a new blog. I'll continue to update the blogspot blog, but I would appreciate it if you'd go to the new site and subscribe to the blog again. Its much improved over the old method. You can get to the new blog subscription area by clicking: http://www.abilitybeyondthehorizon.org/blog/ on the right hand side you'll see a subscription box. Put your email in there, you'll get an email confirming, and that's it! Let me know what you think of the new look. Extra points if you find typos on the website, being my "inner circle" of readers, I'd appreciate the help with that!

Adventure Beyond the Horizon

On May 20th at 9am we'll be having our first fundraiser at Montford Middle School. Its called Adventure Beyond the Horizon. We'll have various activities that teams of two or more can do together. Here's the catch. Half of your team must be wearing a blindfold. There will be obstacles to navigate, fun field day activities to perform, and general fun and happiness to be had, all to support our upcoming trip to Hyderabad, India. Click here to register and learn more: http://www.abilitybeyondthehorizon.org/get-involved/adventure-beyond-the-horizon/

Need Business Sponsorship

We are also looking for business sponsorship for the event. $250 will get your logo on the T-shirt, and we'd love for your company to volunteer at a sponsored activity and of course run through the activities. The business can even create the activity, or we can work together to make one. You all can REALLY help us a lot by getting this word out to businesses that you do business with and let them know this is a cause you believe in. If you'd like me to talk with someone, call me at (850) 778-2110 or email mickey@abilitybeyondthehorizon and I'd love to tell them more.

Hyderabad!

In the month of July myself and Lauren Barr will be heading to Hyderabad. I'd love to have at least one more person to come with me, so if you have experience as an O&M instructor and as a Vision Teacher with an interest in international work, please get in touch and lets talk about possibilities. Like last year, we'll train new orientation and mobility instructors, as well as teach about the Expanded Core Curriculum, the overarching curriculum we use here in the US to prepare students with visual impairment to be successful in the world as adults. Also like in Bangalore, we'll be open to opportunities for further support and education. I can't wait to find out what those will be. So much of this work requires us to stay on our toes and open to possibility.

Its Time For Your Support

Get in touch if you'd like to help. We're about $3,000 shy of our goal to make this trip happen. We've already got a trip planned for next summer as well, Sierra Leone, so all money will be used. I'm not worried though, I know you all will come through in helping us to help others. We are a 501c3 charitable organization through the United States. This means that 100% of your donation is completely tax deductible, and literally 20 dollars make a big difference. You can donate through paypal and find out more by going to our Get Involved Page, checks can be made to Ability Beyond the Horizon and mailed to our treasurer at this address:

Ability Beyond the Horizon

c/o Eileen Bischof

2329 Limerick Dr

Tallahassee, FL 32309-3508

Checks are preferred because all the support goes to Ability Beyond the Horizon, rather than a small fee to Paypal first. Both ways are greatly appreciated!

Thanks for everything, even mentioning our work to others is an unbelievable help, please pass this post around to your friends and contacts. Lets make our first annual Adventure event a huge success. I look forward to hearing from you all.

From Devnar School for the Blind Website

~Mickey