Prevent Blindness receives $9.7M donation to support, improve national eye health
The nonprofit eye health and safety organization Prevent Blindness has received its largest ever monetary donation from the Estate of Pamela Behrens, according to a press release.
“For more than a century, Prevent Blindness has been advancing its sight-saving mission, evolving as the times dictate,” Jim McGrann, chair of the Prevent Blindness Board of Directors and CEO of Advancing Eyecare, said in the release. “This has only been made possible through the generosity of our donors — whether it’s a gift of $5, $500, $1 million or more, all donations are valued and support the millions of people across the country impacted by eye health.”
Through education, advocacy and public awareness, Prevent Blindness works with similar organizations to address a wide variety of vision problems. Its initiatives include improving equitable access to eye care, promoting early identification of eye conditions, encouraging government agencies to implement policies that improve national eye health, and improving public understanding of eye health and preventive actions that can be taken to maintain it.
The Behrens’ $9.7 million gift will be used to help implement the goals outlined in Prevent Blindness’ 2025-2030 strategic plan. These include:
- supporting programs that ensure the early identification and treatment of pediatric vision problems, such as myopia, and improving children’s eye health;
- improving public awareness of vision and eye-related problems, emphasizing the importance of early detection and routine eye care, and facilitating access to care for underserved populations;
- boosting public policy efforts designed to improve access to vision care and protect national eye health;
- providing support and community to individuals impacted by vision issues and their caregivers; and
- working with international groups to improve global eye health and care.
In addition to these initiatives, Prevent Blindness plans to launch a wide-reaching comprehensive awareness campaign designed to inform the public about its resources and ways to help the organization achieve its goals.
According to the release, Pamela Behrens named Prevent Blindness as a beneficiary in her will in remembrance of her late husband, Richard Behrens, who served on the Prevent Blindness national and Texas board of directors in the 1980s and was the organization’s national treasurer.
“We are deeply grateful for Richard’s service on behalf of our mission, and for Pamela Behrens’ incredible generosity in memorializing his commitment,” Jeff Todd, Prevent Blindness’ president and CEO, said in the release. “This extraordinary gift comes at a pivotal time for Prevent Blindness, empowering us to expand our reach, elevate public awareness and better support those most vulnerable to vision loss in an era of rapid change.”
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