A fundraiser…150 years in the making

A senior woman and man post for a photo in front of a few posters that show a fundraising campaign for Operation Eyesight and its progress. The text on one of the posters reads "Making our 150th anniversary by giving the gift of sight through Operation Eyesight."
Written by Caroline Wagner, published on April 6, 2022 Give the Gift of Sight
Janet Whitlock and Pastor Alex Craig proudly display their church’s fundraising progress. Members of the
First Baptist Church in Petrolia were challenged to put away a dollar a day – the price of a cup of coffee – towards Operation Eyesight.

When members of the First Baptist Church in Petrolia, Ontario sat down to choose an organization to support for the church’s 150th anniversary, the decision was unanimous.

“Operation Eyesight kept coming up because of the previous connection,” says Janet Whitlock, the project’s lead.  “It was one of the easier decisions.”

The previous connection she refers to is the church’s long history of giving to Operation Eyesight. It began back in the early sixties when Dr. Ben Gullison arrived in Petrolia to deliver a talk at the church.

A medical missionary in Sompeta, India, Dr. Gullison helped build a hospital in the region and later established a service to provide free cataract surgeries to people in the area. That initiative would become the inspiration behind Operation Eyesight.  

When Dr. Gullison visited Petrolia’s First Baptist Church on behalf of Operation Eyesight, he impressed the congregation with his vigor and passion for the cause.

“He seemed quite elderly when he came to speak to our church,” recalls Diane O’Dell. “And my mother was just so thrilled with him because he jumped down from the church platform like he was a 14-year-old.”

The church continued to invite Operation Eyesight representatives to speak in the decades to come, and when Diane’s late sister Ruth took over the Sunday School, her students would raise more than $13,000 to donate to our organization.

Ahead of the church’s 150th anniversary on May 1, 2022, the congregation decided on a fundraising goal of $15,000. Church and community members stepped up to save a dollar a day to put towards the goal.

“We don’t have a lot of children now,” adds Diane, “but obviously we have a congregation of very generous seniors.”

The congregation has already raised more than $16,000, breaking past their initial goal weeks ahead of schedule.

Happy 150th anniversary, First Baptist Church of Petrolia – and thank you for marking the occasion by giving the Gift of Sight. We are incredibly grateful for your decades of support. Together, we are preventing blindness and restoring sight – For All The World To See.