REPORT #1682
"They then go from being completely blind to having their sight entirely restored by this 15 minute operation."
Jennifer Staple
Founder, President, CEO
Unite for Sight
A VISION TO BRING SIGHT
BACKGROUND: Blindness is a problem that isn't always necessary, currently there are 36 million people who are needlessly blind. As much as 80 percent of blindness is preventable with the proper screening and care. One child becomes blind somewhere in the world every minute from diseases such as measles, congenital rubella, meningitis, premature birth and vitamin A deficiency.
Unite for Sight is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2000 by Jennifer Staple, who at the time was just a sophomore in college at Yale University. For the first three years the organization was in existence, it's sole mission was to coordinate eye screenings and educational outreach to the less fortunate population of New Haven, Connecticut. After that, the program was introduced to other college medical advisors and soon applications for new chapters of Unite for Sight started pouring in from all over the country. With the help of the original chapter, Unite for Sights services became available all over the country and eventually would expand to cover four continents. Currently there are more than 4,000 volunteers working with 90 chapters based at universities, medical schools, corporations and high schools.
Jennifer still coordinates all of Unite for Sight's efforts and does so out of her dorm room at Stanford where she is currently in medical school. So far, Unite for Sight has provided services to more than 500,000 low-income patients and has sponsored more than 12,000 sight-restoring surgeries.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: If you are interested in helping Unite for Sight's cause you can make a donation online at http://www.uniteforsight.org/. A donation of 50 dollars restores sight to one person, $2,500 restores sight to 50 people and $5,000 restores sight to 100 people. You can also help by donating old eyeglasses or eye screening equipment. Anyone over 18 can volunteer to help with screenings and treatments. Volunteers participate in hands-on clinical service while assisting eye doctors in rural villages, refugee camps and slums. Volunteers are educated in international health and development programs while providing eye care to patients living in poverty.
SMART WOMAN CONTACT: Jennifer Staple, jstaple@uniteforsight.org
