Aerie Pharmaceuticals Matches ASCRS Foundation Fund Raising to Provide Sight-Saving Surgery
Aerie Pharmaceuticals announced that it is matching, dollar for dollar, the first $30,000 donated to the ASCRS Foundation’s charitable eye care programs by attendees at the 2019 ASCRS-ASOA Annual Meeting, being held in San Diego, from May 3-7, 2019.
This is the second year that Aerie is doubling attendee’s charitable contributions. At the 2018 ASCRS-ASOA annual meeting, attendees were challenged to give $25,000 to the ASCRS Foundation to trigger an Aerie match of the same amount. Aerie’s call-to-action spurred an abundance of giving that produced over $53,000 in contributions in just a few days, including the match. The combined support allowed the ASCRS Foundation and our volunteer surgeons to restore sight for more than 200 patients last year.
“Following the enthusiastic response to last year’s match, we were very eager to expand the program and, together, raise funds for an even greater number of sight-saving procedures for patients in need in the United States and abroad. We have already seen great momentum heading into the final stretch of this campaign, with more than $10,000 donated since the match was announced in January. This support underscores how much the Foundation’s life-changing mission inspires the entire eye care community. We invite all ASCRS-ASOA Annual Meeting attendees to join us and their colleagues in supporting it by making a generous contribution,” Tom Mitro, President and Chief Operating Officer, Aerie Pharmaceuticals, said in a company news release.
The Give Sight Graffiti Wall
To encourage contributions and showcase the significant impact that the generosity of ASCRS-ASOA members has, the ASCRS Foundation will mount a Give Sight Graffiti Wall display in the San Diego Convention Center’s Sails Pavilion.
This dramatic instillation will feature “graffiti” messages from attendees about the impact of ophthalmology and volunteerism. Attendees are also invited to leave a message honoring their mentor or an ophthalmologist that inspired them to give back. Throughout Sunday and Monday, a professional artist will interpret the graffiti messages previously left by attendees into a unique and inspiring piece of art that illustrates the power of giving back. The wall mural will be preserved after the meeting as a demonstration of the collective power of industry and Society members to provide eye care to those most in need.
ASCRS-ASOA members and meeting attendees who are not able to visit the Graffiti Wall or Aerie’s booth in the exhibit hall (#2945) can still have their donation matched by giving through the end of Tuesday, May 7, at www.ascrsfoundation.org/give
About the ASCRS Foundation
The ASCRS Foundation, a charitable 501(c)3, works to support physician education and to provide humanitarian cataract surgery in the United States and developing countries. Through its programs and partnerships, the foundation works to maximize the benefits of modern ophthalmology and to treat thousands of needy patients both at home and abroad.
The ASCRS Foundation accomplishes its goals through a combination of original programs, including those provided through its Robert Sinskey Eye Institute in Ethiopia and Operation Sight, and by funding and collaborating with a select network of highly effective partners. The Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), the largest organization of cataract surgeons. Among its membership exists the collective support and volunteerism needed to reduce global cataract blindness.