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Many thanks to our wonderful sponsors and all of the guests who joined us at the 2010 Party With a Purpose NYC!  Click here for photos from the event!

On Thursday, May 13th the New York Board of Visionaries hosted their 3rd Annual Party with a Purpose. It was a wonderful evening honoring Caswell F. Holloway, Commissioner, Department of Environmental Protection, NYC with the Goodwill Ambassador Award and Chef Joseph 'JB' Boyer from the Palm Restaurant with the Chef of the Year Award.

Nearly 300 guests enjoyed delicious hors d'oeuvres from the Palm Restaurant, open bar courtesy of Bacardi, live jazz by Yotam Silberstein and a fantastic silent auction.

Hope for Vision will be launching a series of walk-a-thons at Universities nationwide to raise much needed funds and awareness for vision research. 

These walks and runs –where participants gather support through pledges and sponsorships - are a wonderful opportunity for students to work together for a common goal, help spread the word about Hope for Vision and support an urgent and important cause.  It will also be a way for students to give back to their community with a portion of the funds they raise directly supporting innovative research in their area.

The first walk took place on April 25, 2009 at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.  In addition to raising over $23,000 for vision research, over 100 students worked together to spread the word about HFV and the devastating diseases robbing millions of precious sight.

For more information on how you can hold an iWalk at your school contact Janis Morrow at janis@hopeforvision.org.

We are thrilled to announce Hope for Vision's 2008 Visionary Grant recipients.  These grants support innovative scientific research to find treatments and cures for retinal degenerative diseases, a group of genetic, blinding diseases like Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), Macular Degeneration and Usher’s Syndrome. Thanks to your generosity Hope for Vision awarded over $1.2 million to leading vision researchers this past year. 

You can learn more about Hope for Vision's Visionary Scientists by clicking here.

In addition, Hope for Vision has been working with the Elden Family to fund research specifically for the Usher IIIa disease. Usher IIIa is a progressive combination of hearing and vision loss that is usually diagnosed in the second decade of life.  Richard Elden, with the assistance of his daughter, Cynthia Elden (an Usher IIIa patient), his son, Thomas Elden and David A. Saperstein, MD, a retina physician with specific research interests in inherited retinal disease, have put together a team of some of the best retina researchers in the world to focus on Usher IIIa disease.  These researchers are required to attend working group meetings at least 2 times per year to discuss and share all of their work with one another.  By sharing data, reagents, animals and expertise in real time rather than after publication, the group has already made significant advances in the understanding and potential treatment of Usher III. 

To learn more about the Usher III Initiative, click here.

On January 30, 2009, HFV Founder and Chairman Isaac Lidsky received the Individual Louis Braille Award and was the keynote speaker at the 49th Annual Louis Braille Awards Ceremony in Philadelphia.  This annual event hosted by the Associated Services for the Blind (ASB) honors outstanding individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions on behalf of those who are blind or visually impaired.  Past Individual Louis Braille Award recipients include Carl Augusto, President of the American Foundation for the Blind; country singer Ronnie Milsap;  Russell Redenbaugh, a managing partner at Kairos, Inc. and advocate on the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights; and, Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind climber to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.

Isaac summed up the event perfectly in his remarks, "Our goal today is nothing short of meaningful, independent, fulfilled lived for the blind: a world in which blind people can achieve anything that they want to, anything that a sighted person could do."

Click here for pictures from the event.

Hope for Vision’s Miami Community of Hope hosted its 13th Annual Party with A Purpose on Saturday, September 27th at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami.  Close to $1 million was raised to support critical scientific research to find cures and treatments for blinding diseases. 

Nearly 700 guests enjoyed a wonderful evening that included: delicious hors d’oeuvres served up by 19 renowned local chefs; a silent auction with over 100 exciting items; and fantastic live music and dancing.  You can view photos from the event by clicking here.

During the program, Hope for Vision’s Founder and Chairman Isaac Lidsky announced the launch of Hope for Vision’s 20/20 Campaign.  The campaign has four main goals: to make 20/20 vision a reality for the millions affected by blinding disease; to raise $20 million by the year 2020; to provide “20/20” grants to 20 up and coming researchers; and to increase HFV’s base of supporters twenty-fold.

In addition, Hope for Vision was proud to announce the extremely generous $1million gift from Adrienne Arsht, Hope for Vision’s Honorary Humanitarian, to create the Adrienne Arsht Hope for Vision Retinal Degeneration Research Laboratory at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami.

The evening was also a heartfelt tribute to Hope for Vision’s 2008 Honorees: Good Will Ambassador, Donna E. Shalala, President, University of Miami; 2008 Honoree, Michael Hanzman, Esq.; Humanitarian, Mark Siegler, M.D., FACP, Professor, Director MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics; and Scientist of the Year, Byron  L. Lam, M.D., Director Florida Inherited Eye Disease Project Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.