By Doug Friend
Welcome to the first Angels Quarterly of 2024! We at the National Court Reporters Foundation (NCRF) are excited to thank each of you – Angels and donors – and let you know how your generous donations are being used to benefit our members.
As I wrote in NCRF’s February JCR column, your current NCRF Board of Trustees has made the decision to invest your donations directly in stenographic reporters and captioners! In 2024 NCRF is slated to award almost $60,000 in scholarships and grants. These are actual dollars in our members’ hands! In addition, NCRF will continue to host the popular, well-received Ask Me Anything ZoomUps, and the Foundation will again sponsor mental health seminars in May during Mental Health Month. Of course, the things that all of you have come to rely on will continue, such as the esteemed Jim Bouley Family Lifetime Award for Altruism, presented annually to a self-sacrificing, compassionate NCRA member.
The weather this winter season of 2023-2024 has been severe in several places. If you know of an NCRA member who has suffered a weather-related loss, please encourage them to apply for NCRF’s Natural Disaster Relief Fund. We want to help!
As we look forward to our 2024 Conference & Expo in Louisville, Ky., this summer, all Angels are invited to Friday’s luncheon, where your Trustees have the opportunity to show our appreciation for your generous gifts. NCRF will also again be hosting interviews with veterans as part of the partnership NCRA and NCRF have with the Library of Congress and its Veterans History Project. If you are interested in being an interviewer or the reporter making a record of these memories, please contact Jill Parker Landsman at jlandsman@ncra.org.
Happy reading to each of you! You are the heart and soul of NCRF!
R. Douglas Friend
FAPR, RDR, CRR (Ret.)
NCRF Chair
