ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 27, 2024 – The Irving S. Gilmore Foundation has generously provided a grant to support clinical operations in Kalamazoo County, helping patients who need sight-restoring cornea transplants.
In 2023, Eversight worked with the families of 106 Kalamazoo County residents who gave the gift of sight as eye donors and local surgeons relied on Eversight to provide 33 tissues for safe transplantation for Kalamazoo County residents in need.
“The Irving S. Gilmore Foundation’s support will allow Eversight to recover nine donated cornea tissues from Kalamazoo County donors,” said Becky Harris, Philanthropy Director, Foundations & Corporations, Eversight. “Eversight is grateful for the Foundation’s generosity to allow us to continue changing lives through eye donation and transplantation.”
Eversight recovers, prepares and provides donated eye tissue for more than 7,500 sight restoring corneal transplants every year and is the only nonprofit organization recovering and providing donated cornea tissue for transplant in Michigan.
“This gift will allow Eversight to fully prepare one tissue for transplant within Kalamazoo County,” Harris said. “Cornea transplant recipients regain their sight, independence and quality of life in as little time as one week.”
The Irving S. Gilmore Foundation works to support and enrich the cultural, social and economic life of greater Kalamazoo through priorities including human services, health and well-being.
About Eversight
Eversight is a nonprofit organization with a mission to restore sight and prevent blindness through the healing power of donation, transplantation and research. The Eversight network is responsible for recovering, evaluating and providing human eye tissue for transplantation; supporting research into the causes and cures of blinding eye conditions; promoting donation awareness through public and professional education; and providing humanitarian aid to people around the world in need of corneal transplantation. Operating in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and South Korea, Eversight works in collaboration with surgeons, researchers, academic medical centers and eye banks across the United States and abroad. For more information, visit eversightvision.org.
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