National President Zampieri To Outline BVA’s Legislative Priorities

Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) National President Thomas A. Zampieri, Ph.D. will form part of a six-member panel of Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) on Wednesday, March 3, as he summarizes the Association’s priorities for the first session of the 117th Congress. The scheduled 10:00am EST beginning of the hearing, which will be conducted virtually by the House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs, will first feature oral testimony from the Disabled American Veterans followed by the […]

Access Board Seeks Public Input on Self-Driving Vehicles

The United States Access Board will host, during the months of March and April, a four-part series of virtual meetings on making Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) accessible to passengers with disabilities.   The meetings will provide an open forum and encourage public dialogue through which stakeholders and interested citizens can discuss considerations, challenges, and solutions in the design of accessible, self-driving vehicles.   Two 90-minute sessions scheduled for March 10 and 24 will address access for […]

Matthew Whitaker Concert – National Library Service 90th Anniversary Celebration

Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2021Time: 8:00pmLink: https://www.youtube.com/user/LibraryOfCongress Stellar jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker has been blind since birth and playing music since his grandfatherbought him a small keyboard at age three. At 10, he performed for Stevie Wonder’s induction intothe Apollo Theater Hall of Fame. Now, at age 19, Whitaker has been featured on stages around theworld, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Lincoln Center. A patron of the National Library Service for the […]

Position Announcement – Director, National Library Service

The Library of Congress, founded in 1800, is the oldest federal cultural institution in the nation. It is the country’s first established cultural institution and the largest library in the world, with more than 170 million items on approximately 840 miles of bookshelves. The collections include more than 38 million books and other print materials, 3.6 million recordings, 14 million photographs, 5.5 million maps, 7.1 million pieces of sheet music and 70 million manuscripts. The […]

Women’s Veteran Group 2021 Annual Retreat Announcement

Greetings Veterans! We are excited to hold our BVA Women’s Veteran Group 2021 Virtual AnnualRetreat on March 4-5, 2021. This year’s retreat theme is “She Served Too.” Pleasereview the schedule of sessions for both days and complete the required registrationand fee in order to attend. We look forward to your participation. **This retreat is for the Women Veteran Members of the Blinded VeteransAssociation only and your membership will be verified. ** Click here to download […]

New COVID Vaccination Tool Available

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has set up a special national online tool called “Keep Me Informed” to inform veterans about what they can expect over the next several months regarding the COVID vaccines and the phases in which they can be administered to veterans. Please feel free to sign up for this tool, which asks veterans to input their demographic information and indicate whether they are interested in receiving the vaccine. Individual veteran […]

A Holiday Message from BVA’s Executive Director

To our valued members, volunteers, staff, friends, and partners: Another year has swiftly passed, bringing us to the brink of a new year, a year that will bring significant challenges to which we will, no doubt, rise above. This year has offered solid proof that, despite the enormity of the challenges facing us due to the global pandemic, we are resilient and will remain so. I echo what the optimists continue to say: We will […]

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BVA To Host State of the Organization Virtual Town Hall

The Blinded Veterans Association’s National Board of Directors and National Headquarters have scheduled a 90-minute virtual Town Hall meeting for Wednesday, December 16, at 3:00 p.m. EST to address the current state of the organization and its activities on a national level. BVA members, their families, and other interested stakeholders are invited to attend the Town Hall, which will feature BVA’s national leadership and the leaders of the Association’s special interest groups. National leadership areas […]

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Give the Gift of Hope to Blinded Veterans this #Giving Tuesday!

Today is the day! Take part in #GivingTuesday and help us support all blinded veterans. Every donation counts. Even if you were financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, you can still support us! Visit our Facebook page and share our #GivingTuesday posts with your friends and family. By spreading the word you’re helping us reach every blinded veteran who would benefit from our support. When you donate to BVA you’re helping us provide opportunities to […]

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Give the Gift of Hope to Blinded Veterans this #GivingTuesday!

This year has been hard on all of us, but together we are getting through it. While you’re shopping for your holiday gifts this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, give the gift of hope to blinded veterans. By supporting BVA, you’re supporting veterans like Monaca Gilmore. Monaca sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from an improvised explosive device that detonated near her convoy. The aftereffects of the TBI resulted in the loss of her eyesight. […]