The Popcorn Coalition

Vision Statement:
	Strengthen advocacy and community relationships as a means of improving and increasing services and support for individuals who are Deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Mission Statement:
	Improve access to services and information for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, regardless of communication methodology, in Utah.
Brief History:
	January 15, 2002: 1st meeting with Kathy Evans (SHHH) and Ron Nelson (UAD) present. March 23, 2002: Linda Lewis (ALDA) joined the coalition. February 25, 2003: Ann Lovell (AGB) joined the coalition. December 10, 2003: Emilie Burrow (CLNA) joined the coalition.
We started with a project to get more captioned movies in Utah. Ron jokingly said something about if there's popcorn, everybody will come. Then we started serving popcorn at our meetings, and just for fun started calling ourselves the Popcorn Coalition. And the name has stuck. For too long a time these different organizations that we represent haven't tried to find a single voice, and historically have even had some animosity for one another. Meeting together has been an eye-opening and heart-bonding experience. I think I speak for the entire group when I say welcome. (by Kathy Evans, SHHH)
Accomplishments/Efforts: Carmike Theaters CMoviesUtah Website (www.uad.org cmoviesutah) Utah Department of Health Robert G. Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Outreach Specialist Robert G. Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Adult Education Director Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Temple Square, Disabled Services Director KUED (channel 7), Director of Broadcasting & Director of Creative Services Public Service Commission, Relay Outreach Salt Lake County, ADA Compliance Specialist and Patron Services Manager Publicize the Popcorn Coalition in Newsletters Western Region Outreach Center and Consortia, Outreach Site Coordinator Department of Public Safety, Communications Bureau (Dispatch) Local TV News Stations (Channels 2, 4, 5, 13) Funeral Homes, Accessability Local/State/Congress Candidates, Captioning TV Campaign Clips Utah Law, Add Pagers, etc to the PSC's public distribution of relay equipment, Senator Goodfellow

If you would like to help with advocacy efforts, please email one of the Popcorn Coalition members:

The Popcorn Coalition was honored by the Utah Association for the Deaf during UAD Honors Night on August 21, 2004.

President’s Award 2004
Popcorn Coalition
          We are pleased to recognize a group of deaf and hard of hearing organizations who have worked together since January 2002, more than two years ago.
          They meet monthly and worked together to improve the open-captioned movies, worked with the Utah Department of Health to caption their TV news on the West Nile Virus and other issues, met with several TV news stations to improve their captions, and several organizations such as the Sanderson Center, LDS Church, Salt Lake County and Public Service Commission.
They recognize that they have similar needs in spite of different communication methods. They are pioneers because they have conquered historic animosity and are blazing a trail to show the way that teamwork is stronger than working against each other.
          The members of the Popcorn Coalition are:
                    Kathy Evans, SHHH, Self Help for the Hard of Hearing
                    Linda Lewis, ALDA, Association of Late Deafened Adults
                    Ann Lovell, Alexander Graham Bell Association
                    Emilie Burrow, CLNA, Cued Language Network of America
                    Ron Nelson, UAD, Utah Association for the Deaf
          For their advocacy efforts on behalf of Deaf and Hard of Hearing citizens of Utah, we are pleased to present the Popcorn Coalition with a President’s Award plaque.
(presented by Eli McCowan, UAD Vice-President)

Members
Kathy Evans Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA)	Linda Lewis Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA)	Ann Lovell Alexander Graham Bell Association (AGB)	Emilie Mulholland Cued Language Network of America (CLNA)	Ron Nelson Utah Association for the Deaf (UAD)