Service Organization Pledges $150M for Blindness Prevention
(NewsUSA) - Every minute, one child goes blind. By the end of the year, half a million children will have lost their sight.
Lions Clubs International is raising at least $150 million through Campaign SightFirst II, an initiative to expand on SightFirst, Lions' worldwide program to combat preventable blindness.
"As a Lion for 53 years, I have witnessed our humanitarian contributions to local communities around the world," said former President Jimmy Carter. "Campaign SightFirst II will ease the suffering and improve the lives of our fellow human beings by preventing blindness that devastates families and entire communities."
Since the launch of SightFirst in 1989, Lions have prevented vision loss and restored sight to 27 million people and improved eye care for more than 100 million people around the world by providing cataract surgeries, helping to build or expand eye hospitals and clinics, upgrading equipment in eye centers, distributing sight-saving medication and training eye care professionals.
The SightFirst program has awarded more than $202 million in grant funding for Lions-supported vision projects in 90 countries. To help prevent blindness in children, 30 pediatric eye care centers have been opened around the world.
Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service organization with 1.3 million members in 200 countries. To learn more about the SightFirst program or Campaign SightFirst II, visit www.lcif.org.
