2021 ANNUAL REPORT
THANK YOU
I write this letter having just returned from a trip to India, where I saw first-hand the impact our partners, staff and volunteers have in the lives of patients and families, every day.
Speaking with our health workers in the community and patients who have undergone sight-restoring cataract surgery has been a rather emotional experience for me. Sharing in their joy at seeing again and being able to live independently has been the highlight of my travels. Wherever I have travelled and in various languages and dialects, the message to me has been the same: Thanks!
2021 was a landmark year for Operation Eyesight.
Last year, we raised $5.16 million. I’m excited about this accomplishment not only because we achieved our fundraising goal. I’m excited because our teams are seeing the impact our donors and partners have every day in communities where we work. None of this would be possible without you.
It’s the resilient communities we work alongside that help ensure our impact is sustainable and long-lasting. It’s our donors and partners who give their time, energy and resources to make our vision a reality. It’s the frontline staff, volunteers, eye care professionals and physicians who are our first point of contact with patients in the community and who directly touch the lives of children, women and men every day. None of this would be possible without our people.
A big part of our success in 2021 was the strength and collaboration between our international teams across continents and time zones. Despite the distance, our teams have never been clearer in our mission and how to achieve it. Our people’s presence on the ground and in communities meant that we especially felt the aftershocks of the pandemic.
In these challenges, we found new opportunities to strengthen local health systems and impact lives. Our people’s ability to adapt and be nimble has only made us better at what we do best.
In 2021, we saw traffic to our website grow by nearly 70 per cent, accompanied by a 35 per cent increase in online giving. In 2022, we look forward to engaging with you across our digital channels, especially on social media.
As we enter our 60th year and work gets underway to expand our programs into more countries, we have much to celebrate. Together, we are poised to have a greater impact than ever before. When I see the work our teams do every day, the strength of our partner communities, and the passion of our partners and donors, I know our work is in capable hands.
Yours truly,
Kashinath “Kash” Bhoosnurmath
President & CEO
YOUR GLOBAL IMPACT IN 2021
1.68 million
people screened for eye conditions
168,776
life-changing eye surgeries
29
villages declared avoidable blindness-free
1,127
community health workers and volunteers trained
186,400
pairs of prescription eyeglasses dispensed
77,140
students and school staff screened for eye conditions
31
water boreholes rehabilitated
31
new vision centres established
811,771
impressions on social media
WHERE WE WORK
WHERE WE WORK
WHO WE ARE
We are 55 staff and 550 volunteers worldwide. We are hundreds of communities of work. We are a network of 10,000+ donors, 20 partner institutions and 54 partner hospitals. Together, we are a global team working to make avoidable blindness a thing of the past.
For nearly six decades, we have been partnering with communities, empowering leaders and bringing life-changing eye health care to people who need it most.
We leverage the unique strengths of our communities of work and recruit community members to become local eye health champions – champions like Sonam from India. As one of the nearly 2,000 women and men who make up our worldwide team of community health workers and volunteers, Sonam provides assessment, specialist referral, follow-up and public health education to others in her community. Read more of Sonam’s story on page 6.
It’s our team’s presence in communities across eight countries and our partnership with local health providers and hospitals that allows us to create impact that is both enduring and sustainable. It enabled us to provide life-changing surgery to nearly 169,000 people in 2021.
By equipping communities with the resources and tools to care for their own eye health, we’re working to declare entire regions avoidable blindness-free – like the Kamariny Ward of Kenya, where we have declared 30 villages free of avoidable blindness.
We partner with governments and other organizations and identify opportunities to improve eye care within existing health systems. That’s why in 2021 we supported the training of 896 frontline medical staff in primary eye care worldwide – people like Joana, who is pursuing a degree in ophthalmic nursing at Ghana’s Ophthalmic Nursing School, thanks to the generosity of our donors. Read Joana’s story on page 8.
Restoring sight is just the beginning. Our people are addressing the root causes of blindness, including bringing access to fresh water and sanitation in countries like Zambia, where our work drilling and restoring boreholes is bringing new life to communities and giving girls like Natasha the chance to attend school full time. Read Natasha’s story on page 18.
We are a global community. Together, we are advancing our mission to prevent blindness and restore sight – For All The World To See.
2021 FINANCIALS
Thanks to the compassion of our global community, 2021 was a year of success for Operation Eyesight. Despite another challenging pandemic year, we met our revenue goals while also taking steps to reduce costs and bring eye care services closer to communities.
Although COVID-19 restrictions at times limited our regular program activities globally, we found ways to work virtually and, as a result, our administrative costs remained present.
We received $5.16 million in donations from individuals, service clubs, institutional partners and foundations, as well as through legacy gifts.
Of note, we saw a significant increase in investment and stock donations. We are also incredibly grateful for the bequests we received in 2021, totalling nearly $370,000.
We remain committed to ensuring that every gift has the most impact in our communities of work, so every dollar donated directly translates into lives changed.
We know that 2021 was a challenging year for many, and we are incredibly grateful for supporters like you who continued to help transform lives through the gift of sight. Thank you!
For detailed financial information, please visit our financial accountability page.
DONORS ($5,000+)
The transformational impact we are having together is made possible by the generosity of donors. We are grateful to all our donors, including legacy, annual and monthly donors, for their ongoing support. Due to space limitation, we are listing donors of $5,000 and higher.
CORPORATIONS
Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd.
Karen Booth and Jonathan Huyer
Kyle T. Farms Ltd.
Les Productions Eclipse
Meadowlark Resources Corp.
Port Royal Mills
Transleaders Inc.
ESTATES
Estate of Martin Wason Albright
Estate of Lois Alger
Estate of Lewis J. Baines
Estate of Helena Balczewska
The Eileen Egan Alter Ego Trust
Estate of Catherine Elizabeth Frame
Estate of Margaret Vejgaard Gallagher
Estate of Hannelore Helene Gewers
Estate of Phyllis Maureen Ireton
Estate of Clara Lahmer
Estate of Merrill Lathem
Estate of Ferdinand Martin
Estate of Jean Morris
Estate of Mary Neale
Estate of Maureen Nye
Estate of Mary Katherine Pletz
Estate of Constance Jill Sewell
Estate of Eliseo Spagnolo
Estate of Ruth Maureen Stonier
Estate of Selma A. Thompson
Estate of Esme Florence Thornton
FOUNDATIONS
Christine A. Sethi-Van Impe Foundation through the Victoria Foundation
DKM Foundation
Dorothy May Kelly Fund through the Victoria Foundation
Dr. Charles and Margaret Brown Foundation
Ethan and Joan Compton Sub Fund at Calgary Foundation
Jack and Doris Brown Foundation
Ted & Enid Jansen Fund at Calgary Foundation
The Lawrason Foundation
The P & P Murray Foundation
The Peter Gilgan Foundation
Toronto Theosophical Society
Zita and Mark Bernstein Family Foundation
GRANTS
Optometry Giving Sight
Sightsavers International
United States Agency for International Development
TRIBUTE GIFTS
Lucy Koziol in memory of my
husband, Dr. Jan K. Koziol
Elfriede Streu in loving
memory of Henry Streu
INDIVIDUALS
Karen and Bill Barnett
Robert James Burns
Marty Cutler, Marilyn Minden
and Family
Judy Farvolden
Jeremy Francispillai
Steve Gallant
Anthony Gray
Marco Guerreiro Viegas
Agnes Hohn
James Killam
Marlene and Alexander Mackenzie
John and Elizabeth MacLeod
Delores Marko
Paul McCaughan
David L. McIntosh
Marie McNaughton
Michael and Cherry Mockler
Rosemary Nation
Nashila Noor-Ali
Daniel Parlow
Penelope Pattison
Diane Pezzini
Chitra Ramaswami
Jane Ramin
Mary Reid
Doreen Richards
Ralf and Helga Schmidtke
C. Smith
Eric and Vizma Sprott
The Late Gloria Taylor
Suresh R. Tulsiani
V. Jean Wilson
