Contact
Nicole Ducouer, IFB Solutions Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Programs
336-685-2393 | nducouer@ifbsolutions.org

WINSTON-SALEM, NC (June 17, 2019) – The team at IFB Solutions, the largest employer of people who are blind in the country, is staying red-carpet ready. The Winston-Salem based nonprofit has been part of three award-winning videos or documentaries this spring. Most recently, IFB was honored with the prestigious Telly Award for “The Perfect Summer: SEE Camps 2018”, a video about its SEE (Student Enrichment Experience) summer camps for children who are blind or visually impaired. (video courtesy of IFB Solutions)

The SEE Summer Camp video was created and directed by IFB Solutions marketing content specialist Ben Daniels. It showcases the inspiring camp experiences, which are offered at no cost to the families, and made possible with community support. The video received a Gold Award in the Craft Voiceover category made by a non-broadcast group and a Gold Award in the General Charity category. Voiceover for the video was provided by children from the Winston-Salem community and Killian, a SEE camp participant from Asheville, created the beat for the video’s opening music. Other charities who submitted videos to the competition included The Ronald McDonald House, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

The Telly awards were established in 1979 to honor excellence in video and television across the screens. In IFB’s award categories, they are judged and voted by the Telly Awards Judging Council comprised of industry professionals who have all previously won the Telly Awards highest accolade.

“I’ve been involved with the television and video industry for nearly a decade, and it has always been my dream to win a Telly Award,” said Daniels. “To be recognized by your peers for great work is truly the highest honor anyone could receive.”

In April, “Blind Adventure Camp”, a documentary short about IFB’s SEE Adventure Camp along the Nantahala River made its national debut at the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem. Director Rod Murphy and former SEE camper Shareff Stewart spoke during a panel discussion following the screening about the importance of making films that celebrate the abilities and talents of young people who are blind. (video trailer courtesy of Rod Murphy, Collective Projects)

In March, IFB Solutions was again profiled in a national documentary, “A Journey Home”, produced by Massif Films Production with Jared Cruce Studio. Massif, a world-leader in flame-resistant apparel for the U.S. Military, also is a customer of IFB’s textiles manufacturing division. The film profiles IFB Solutions employees Lynn Drake, Roderick Wilson and Rick Gaefe as well as other individuals also working for agencies who are part of National Industries for the Blind. (video courtesy of Massif Film Productions and Jared Cruce Studio)

In May, the film was selected for the “Best of the Best” category at the Brand Film Festival held in New York City. It also won both a Gold and Silver Stevie Award in the Business Documentary and Corporate Social Responsibility categories in the 2019 American Business Awards. IFB Solutions senior director of corporate communications Nicole Ducouer and Daniels joined the Massif Film team for the Stevie Award presentation in New York City on June 11.

“People often tell us that IFB Solutions is one of the best-kept secrets in Winston-Salem,” said Ducouer. “These award-winning videos and films are great avenues for more people to become aware of the great work happening here both on the manufacturing floor and out in the community for people who are blind or visually impaired.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         

Contact: Melissa Stanz

melissa@twobpr.com

M (828) 768-1202

 

Asheville, NC (June 10 2019)—Harold Schutte, M.D., served the Asheville community for more than 50 years until his retirement. Thousands of Asheville children called him Dr. Schutte, and parents of those children depended on him to help their children get well and stay well.

 

Dr. Schutte recently received the Commodore Funderburk Visionary Award presented by IFB Solutions, the largest U.S. employer of people who are blind. The award is named for the late Commodore Funderburk who was blind, deaf and mute, and who worked at IFB for 40 years without missing a day of work.

 

Dr. Schutte, also the former State Medical Examiner for Buncombe County, became involved with IFB Solutions in October of 2005 as a member of the IFB Asheville Advisory Board. He’s been instrumental in IFB’s growth over the past nearly 15 years, including the nonprofit’s 20/20 Capital Campaign that raised nearly a million dollars to add a cafeteria and the Community Low Vision Center at the Asheville facility. Dr. Schutte serves on the IFB Solutions Asheville Advisory Board, and he and his wife Margie continue to be involved in IFB’s fundraising and community awareness events in the Asheville area.

 

“Harold Schutte exemplifies the spirit of Commodore Funderburk. Both men dedicated themselves to their cause and both men never, ever considered anything less than total commitment,” said Randy Buckner, Director of Operations, IFB Solutions Asheville. “One of the greatest gifts Dr. Schutte and his partner Dr. Bryan gave us was donating a building on South French Broad adjacent to our former location. That enabled us to sell our facility there and buy the one on Sardis Road.”

 

“Since we were next door to each other on South French Broad I made friends with Randy Buckner and he showed me what they were doing. I believe strongly in their cause,” said Dr. Schutte.

 

Dr. Schutte has a long tenure in the Asheville community. For decades he taught physicians as head of MAHEC family practice teaching program. He was also on the faculty at UNC Chapel Hill and at Duke University. He also spent years at Mission Hospital, where he was Chief of Staff for a time—a rare honor for a pediatrician. He retired from practicing pediatrics in 2002, then trained for and became State Medical Examiner for Buncombe County until 2018.

 

“Receiving this award was very emotional and totally surprising,” said Dr. Schutte. “I’m just so proud of what they do there and continue to support them in any way I can.”