Voya Financial Volunteers assemble braille book “Animal Kisses” at Sales Meeting in Sea Island, GA – Photo Courtesy of Voya Financial

(Boston, MA) – April 12, 2022 – National Braille Press is announcing today one of its latest projects with support from Voya Financial, a leading health, wealth and investment company. During the firm’s sales conference in Sea Island, Georgia, one hundred Voya volunteers teamed up with the National Braille Press for a volunteer project to help assemble braille materials for blind children and low-vision individuals. Volunteers assembled the braille children’s book, “That’s Not My Otter” and “Animal Kisses,” along with braille refrigerator magnets with quotes from Helen Keller and others.  National Braille Press, based in Boston, is a leading braille publisher in the U.S. and creates braille books and other products for blind people and those with low vision.

“Voya was proud to have our salespeople participate in the volunteer project to help make an impact for the blind community,” said Ginger Brennan, head of ABA Retirement Funds and Multiple Employer Solutions for Voya Financial and a trustee of National Braille Press. “We are honored to team up with National Braille Press as we know that literacy is so important for everyone, including blind children and adults. For our teams at Voya, the service project is always a highlight of this conference, and we were thrilled to participate with such a wonderful organization.”

The volunteer project was held during the Voya sales conference held at The Cloister on Sea Island. Prior to the project, volunteers heard from Joe Quintanilla, a braille reader and National Braille Press VP of Development and Major Gifts, who talked about the importance of braille literacy and thanked them for their assistance.

“National Braille Press is grateful for the service project of Voya salespeople who helped us assemble braille books for children and other braille items,” said Quintanilla. “Braille is the most important tool for blind and low-vision individuals to help them lead fulfilling and independent lives, and the work of Voya volunteers will go a long way towards supporting our mission.”

For blind people, braille is an essential tool that aids in the process of becoming literate. Braille literacy plays the same key role in a blind person’s life that print literacy does in a sighted person’s, by increasing opportunities for employment and academic achievement.  Over 70%   of working-age blind people are unemployed and depend on support such as disability income benefits. Of the 30% of blind people who are employed, the majority are braille readers. It is estimated that the lost productivity due to blindness and eye diseases is over $8.0 billion per year in the United States.

About National Braille Press

National Braille Press is a non-profit braille publisher and producer of braille products. NBP creates products and programs to support braille literacy in the blind community and to provide access to information that empower blind people to actively engage in work, family, and community. For more information visit www.nbp.org 

About Voya Financial^®

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), is a leading health, wealth and investment company that provides products, solutions and technologies that help Americans become well planned, well invested and well protected. Serving the needs of 14.3 million individual, workplace and institutional clients, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $4.2 billion in revenue in 2021 and $739 billion in total assets under management and administration as of Dec. 31, 2021. Certified as a “Great Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work^® Institute, Voya is purpose-driven and is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible. Voya has earned recognition as: one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies^® by the Ethisphere Institute; a member of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index; and a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” on the Disability Equality Index. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @Voya.