Reach 10,400 adults and children through the miracle of restored sight with Seva Foundation and Focusing Philanthropy
Reach 10,400 adults and children through the miracle of restored sight with Seva Foundation and Focusing Philanthropy
As always, Focusing Philanthropy covers all overhead costs. 100% of every donation will go to the 2022 World Sight Day campaign.
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THE NEED
Of the 2.2 billion people with vision impairment or blindness worldwide, 90% live in low-and middle-income countries and nearly 50% have a condition that has not been addressed or could have been prevented if they had access to adequate eye care services. To raise awareness about the number of people who cannot see but who could, the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness created World Sight Day (WSD), an annual day of awareness that brings international attention to the issues of blindness and visual impairment.
2022 CAMPAIGN
Through our 11th Annual World Sight Day campaign, Seva Foundation and Focusing Philanthropy will help 10,400 people (including 1,000 children) living with avoidable blindness or vision impairment to see clearly again. This program will provide free or subsidized surgeries to those who cannot afford them in 16 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. When someone’s sight is restored, they can go back to school, work, and support their families. Their caregiver is able to do the same. Therefore, each surgery gives two people back their life and independence.
The campaign will additionally support vision screenings for 150,000 children and provide required follow-care such as prescription glasses (an estimated 15,000 will require glasses) and treatment for other eye-related conditions. When children have proper access to eye care, they are much more likely to stay in or attend school. A child’s education is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions to lift children from poverty.
This year, we are once again expanding our efforts to address the growing instance of pediatric blindness in areas of the world where increasing numbers of premature infants survive. The 2022 campaign will continue our Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) pilot initiative, which will provide ROP screening and treatment for newborns–including surgeries to prevent the development of permanent blindness–and ultimately serve as a model for hospitals worldwide.
Lastly, the campaign this year will support the procurement of essential equipment, allowing hospitals to serve more people every year.
1:1 MATCH
In support of the 11th Annual World Sight Day campaign, every $1 raised by Focusing Philanthropy will be matched with $1 raised by the Seva Foundation for a combined fundraising goal of $800,000. To qualify for the match, donations must be a minimum of $1,000 and directed to Focusing Philanthropy, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations are fully tax deductible.
All Focusing Philanthropy costs are covered by its founders and 100% of funds contributed will go to the 2022 campaign. A final impact report will be released in summer 2023.
In conjunction with World Sight Day, Focusing Philanthropy and Seva Foundation have implemented annual fundraising campaigns since 2012. Over the course of this partnership, more than $5.4 million in matching grants has been raised, resulting in more than 79,300 surgeries performed! A successful campaign this year will bring the total amount of people with restored sight through our joint initiatives to nearly 90,000.