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The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award

Letter of Recommendation Form
Thank you for your support of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards program.
Please complete the form below to submit your letter of recommendation in support of the award nominee. Recommendations cannot exceed 800 words. You will not be able to submit your recommendation if the maximum word count exceeds 800 words.
Please note that recommendations should come from someone other than the person who nominated the candidate. Please note that required fields on this form are indicated by an asterisk (*).

* Nominee Name:
* Your First Name:
* Your Last Name:
* Your State:
* Your Phone Number:
* Your Email Address:
* Your Relationship to Nominee:

Please enter your letter of recommendation in the text area provided below: Letter to Bolotin Award committee for Handid Dear Committee I am writing in support of Don Winiecki and Handid Braille Services for the Bolotin Award in 2024. Don taught himself to transcribe Braille and started with English Braille. He became aware that there is a large demand for Braille in foreign languages in this country and in others. He found that a few transcribers will take on projects in romance languages, but they are unwilling to do Arabic, East Asian, African and Slavic languages. He found that he could do these languages and is receiving increasing numbers of requests in more and more languages. Since he cannot find other people who can do what he does, he has found an embosserthat can chunk out Braille pretty rapidly. If he needs multiple copies, he can also do that. Languages he has produced in the last month are: Armenian, both east and west; Burmese, French, Hmong, Indonesian, Korean, Laotian, Portuguese, Spanish, and English. Other languages he has done are: Arabic, Chinese, simplified and traditional; Farsi/Persian; Japanese, Russian, Tagalog. Don says that the more foreign languages he does, the easier it is for him. He does more Braille for individuals and companies in this country than for those abroad, but he has done both. The types of material he does are technical: medical, legal, engineering, Museum exhibits, insurance documents;etc.; and textbooks: language learning, spiritual, and more. Dr. Don Winiecki is a professor at Boise State University and Treasurer of the NFB of Idaho. I don’t know how he can accomplish all he does. He would like to establish an instruction program for seniors wishing to learn Braille who have inadequate access to this instruction. For this, he has found a group of Braille users who could assist. He first joined the NFB to build contacts and learn more about blindness, and this is happening. He is a leader in the National Braille Association and the International Council on English Braille. I have used materials he has transcribed and can Speak to the excellence of what he does. He is very generous to transcribe materials for the NFB of Idaho without charge. Don has recruited a Board for Handid Braille Services consisting of Glenn Crosby, Alison Steven, Dana Ard and me. You can see why we recommend Dr. Don Winiecki for a 2024 Bolotin Award. Cordially, Ramona Walhof
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The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award

Letter of Recommendation Form