Red Cross seeks volunteers to transcribe Braille

Americas Aug 17, 2012

FAIRFIELD, NJ: The American Red Cross of Northern New Jersey Jane Bente Braille Center is currently seeking volunteer Braille transcribers and is offering a free training course this September. The Center, established after World War I to help soldiers blinded by mustard gas, is one of the largest volunteer run Braille production centers.

Each year, Red Cross volunteers create more than 1,300,000 pages of academic materials and more than 3,000 textbooks in Braille. These are distributed throughout the United States and foreign countries to help empower children with vision disabilities to study in mainstream schools instead of in specialized environments.

The Red Cross 20-week training course involves a two-hour class and twelve hours of homework weekly. There is no charge for the training and all materials and equipment are supplied by the Red Cross. After completing the course, participants prepare a trial manuscript for submission to the Library of Congress for certification. Upon certification, volunteers can transcribe textbooks at home.

The training course will be offered in both Fairfield and Clifton, with classes beginning in mid-September on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons respectively. For additional details and registration, please contact Nancy Jost via email at nancy.jost@redcross.org or by calling 973-797-3359.