Reaching
Out...

by Annie Bradberry

Pakistan, Korea, Tokyo, London, Germany and Belgium. We never know where the next member is going to come or what bit of information we are going to receive next. With the advancement of technology, people who stutter can reach many different avenues: e-mail, the World Wide Web, fax, telephone and snail mail. I am still amazed by it all.

On the home front, over the last year I sent our Bob Love public service announcement (PSA) to TV stations in five major cities throughout the U.S. From there it was passed along to other stations until now it's being played all over the country. From August 1995 through January 1996, 595 people called our office asking for information for themselves, their spouse, their child, a grandchild, niece/nephew and even a coworker.

Out of the 595 calls received, 143 were generated by the PSA. That is approximately 24% of all inquiries received! And because this has been such a great success, we are now working on producing our first radio PSA. One day soon you may hear us on your favorite radio station as you race along in your car.

Even though we mail out a complete information packet to each person who calls or writes the NSP, it's still important to talk to these people personally. For this reason, we particularly want to thank the many members who have helped us with new member and renewal phone calls: Connie Dugan, Michael Ward, Ralph Kessler, Bonnie Weiss, Gail Lew, Robin Deschamps, Ira Zimmerman, Monica Paslay, Joseph Diaz, Merv Kolb, Shannon Skupien, Cliff Holt, Doris Dembi, Judy Johnson, Earl Angell, Lee Reeves, Richard Alvarado, and Susan Reed. Thanks in part to our callers, we now have more paid members than we did at the end of last year's campaign.

By the way, being on the telephone team is a great way to simultaneously work on your speech and meet wonderful people. Can you remember your first contact with another NSP member? I remember mine. Fifteen years ago California member Pat Feeney called me after I wrote the NSP office for information. We are still great friends today!

Another benefit of being part of our phone calling team are the little perks we've added. This year, those who attend the convention will receive a free banquet ticket! Those not planning to attend the convention will still get nifty NSP merchandise. And for those helping with the Spring Drive, we have additional tokens of appreciation.

Remember, you don't have to live near the office to help out. For example, when long time NSP member Merv Kolb wants to give us a hand, he lets us know, and we send him a list of people who have asked about our organization. He phones them and sends back the contact information.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.

Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Annic Bradbery is the NSP Director of Development and Administration.