SCAVI NEWS

A monthly newsletter of the South Central Association of the Visually Impaired

SCAVI, P.O. Box 2216, Bedford, IN 47421

Newsletter written and produced by President Rita Kersh.

Rita can be reached at 812-278-3038 or e-mail at hoosierrita60@gmail.com

November 2023

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN SCAVI

Our next meeting will be on Monday, November 6 at 9:30 a.m. at the Free Methodist Church, 630 R St. in the basement fellowship hall.

We will conduct a business meeting to learn the results of our chili supper, make plans for our Christmas party on Sat., Dec. 9 and hold elections for a new board member. Last year the following were elected: Rita Kersh president, Brenda Eads vice-president, Denise Mullis secretary Cindy Brooking treasurer, board members Ida Galey for a one-year term, Jim Veen for a two-year term, and Loney Galey for a 3-year term.

SCAVI BIRTHDAYS

Rita Kersh Nov. 2

ACCESSIBLE TECH

Mastercard rolls out its first inclusive credit card for visually impaired consumers in the U.S.

Visually impaired Accessible technology - BingNews

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Mastercard Inc. will roll out its first U.S. credit card for visually impaired consumers, done in partnership with Citizens Financial Group.

© Mastercard

Citizens’ new private-client credit card will feature a square notch on the side of the card meant to signify to blind and partially sighted customers that the card is a credit card, the company said Wednesday. Citizens ultimately intends to roll out the accessible cards across its broader portfolio, including debit cards, which will feature round notches, and prepaid cards, which will have triangular notches.

Linda Kirkpatrick, Mastercard’s North America president, said she expects the card to help the 12 million people in the U.S. who are either blind or partially sighted.

“It’s something you don’t necessarily think about when you’re not visually impaired, but this unlocks a lot of potential for those in that scenario,” she told MarketWatch, as the notches will allow consumers to distinguish between their cards.

Mastercard began working on the Touch Card technology in 2019, and while it’s done some limited programs internationally, the Citizens card marks the first time it’s implemented a globally consistent standard.

All cardholders of the new Citizens product will receive cards with the designated notch, not just customers who are blind or partially sighted.

Brendan Coughlin, Citizens’ head of consumer banking, said at a media presentation that Citizens started the Touch Card rollout with its Private Client World Elite Mastercard simply because the card is new to the market.

“There wasn’t a dramatic strategic reason why private client versus the non-private client versus the debit card,” he said. “The idea is to get into the whole portfolio and this just happened to be the first product that we were otherwise innovating on.”

RECIPE CORNER

PUMPKIN BARS

4 eggs

2 cups flour

1 2/3 cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup oil

2 tsp cinnamon

1 – 16 oz can of pumpkin

1 tsp salt

                                                                     1 tsp soda

Beat eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until smooth, light, and fluffy. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and soda. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix thoroughly. Spread batter in 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool before icing.

ICING FOR PUMPKIN BARS

½ cup butter (margarine)

1 tsp vanilla

1 - 3-oz pkg cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

Mix until smooth and spread on cooled bars.

CRUNCHY CRANBERRY SALAD

2 – 3 oz boxes of strawberry Jell-o

1 – 3 oz box of raspberry Jell-o

3 cups boiling water.

Stir until Jell-o melted. Cool

Stir 1 can whole cranberry sauce into Jell-o, mixing well

1 can crushed pineapple

1 small box frozen strawberries, thawed

1 medium apple, chopped

1 cup chopped pecans

Chill for few hours.

CRANBERRY JELL-O SALAD

1 large pkg raspberry Jell-o

1 ½ cups hot water…stir until dissolved

Add 1 can whole cranberry sauce while water is still hot and stir until it dissolves.

Will be lumpy because of the berries

Add 15 ¼ oz can crushed pineapple

Stir in ½ to ¾ cup walnuts or pecans if you desire. Refrigerate

TOPPING IF DESIRED

Mix together ½ carton sour cream and ½ of 8 oz box Philadelphia cream cheese

Put a spoonful on top of each serving

CORN CASSEROLE

1 can corn – undrained

1 stick melted butter

1 can cream-style corn

2 eggs, beaten

1 – 8 oz sour cream

1 Jiffy cornbread mix

Grease casserole dish with canola oil. Mix all ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (40 oz can)

2 eggs

¼ cup milk

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup butter

TOPPING

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup pecans

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup butter

Mix together. Do not melt butter.

Mix together and pour into butter 9x13 baking dish.

Spread topping over the sweet potatoes and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

SCAVI MINUTES

The South Central Association of the Visually Impaired met on

October 2, 2023.

Those in attendance were Doug and Brenda Eads, Rita Kersh, Denise Mullis, Mike and Dolly Sowder, and James and Karen Veen. Cindy Brooking joined us by phone.

The meeting was called to order by President Rita Kersh. At the state convention in Columbus, OH, there will be a raffle drawing. Those who want to participate needs to get money to Cindy by Wednesday, November 8.

Cindy made a deposit of $275. That is our income since the last meeting.

Brenda moved to approve the September minutes. Dolly seconded it and the motion was approved.

An important part of the meeting was our fund raiser Chili Supper. The White Cane Day Chili Extravaganza will be held at the First Baptist Church of Bedford on October 17, from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. The cost is $8 for all you can eat. Children 5 and under are free. This event is helped by the noon Lions. Rita will provide banners and bid sheets for silent auction items. Rita will be supervising the set up. Those who can help are asked to come at 2:00 PM. Hats and gloves will be required for the servers. Auction items need to be given to Rita.

The state convention for the American Counsel of the Blind of Ohio and Indiana will be held in Columbus, OH. The dates are November 10 to 12. Registration fees are $80. Cindy made a motion that our organization will pay $50 toward that fee. It was seconded by Brenda and the motion was approved. Hotel room rates are $107 without tax or $130. The deadline for registration will be October 19. You may register or learn more information at acbohio.org.

Brenda made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Doug seconded it and the motion was approved.

Respectfully Submitted, Denise Mullis