MILPITAS, CA: Sankara Eye Foundation achieved a major milestone of completing one million free eye surgeries on March 4.To raise funds for the upcoming 200 bed Sankara Eye Hospital (SEH) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, the Focus Rajasthan Group of Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF) hosted a fundraising gala at the Malavalli auditorium at the India Community Center in Milpitas, California, on Saturday, November 16.
The goal of the gala was to raise the remaining $500,000 by the end of 2013 of the $ 2.0 million needed for the hospital construction. Around 350 guests attended the function that commenced with a social hour and continued with a light music by Audigy systems, messages by SEF Chairman Murali Krishnamurthi, C.N.Srivatsan Hon Director of SEF, Dr Kaushik Murali Director Operations and Mr Bharath Director Administration from India. The program ended with melodious musical renditions on old and new musical numbers from Bollywood.
Many US based Fortune 500 companies like Cisco, Oracle, Apple, Microsoft, Bank of America and others contribute dollar-to-dollar donations by employees towards certified charities. A $500 donation by an employee of any of these companies results in $1000 into the kitty of the charity.
“The Mission of the Sankara Eye Foundation is to totally eradicate curable blindness from India”, said Mr. Murali Krishnamurthy, Executive chairman of SEF. He urged everyone to come forward and help the noble cause and a mere $30 per month would save the vision of one patient.
Sankara Eye Foundation, a non-profit organization, works toward eliminating curable blindness in India. SEF’s mission is to realize its goal of “Vision 20/20 by 2020” having 20 best in class eye hospitals in India, performing free eye surgeries to the rural blind. SEF has established nine hospitals across India with a total of 2000 beds and 1300 staff including 125 doctors and 600 paramedics.
Today, Sankara is the largest and the fastest growing free eye care provider in the World performing over 150,000 free eye surgeries annually for the rural poor in India. Each of Sankara’s state of the art hospital offers comprehensive eye care services including treatment for cataract, glaucoma, cornea and refractive surgery, diabetic retinopathy, ocular oncology and pediatric ophthalmology.
Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service
