Perspectives Summer 2014

SPRING 2014A PUBLICATION OF SAVING SIGHT

Bonnie and Charlotte: Correspondence After Transplantation

KidSight PilotsHealthy Vision Dayin St. Louis Area

Champion of Donation Beth Williams, RN

Lions Teach Young People About Community Service

35 Years of Vision: Dr. Ronald Walkenbach’s Contributions to Saving Sight


Perspectives |

From Our CEO

LeadershipTony BavusoChief Executive Officer

Byron DeLaMatreChief Information Officer

Jeff EckertChief Administrative Officer

Annie KuhlChief Communications Officer

Tina LivesayChief Operating Officer

Shelly RasleyChief Technical Officer

Michael TitusChief Clinical Officer

EditorialClayton Clark Communications & Development Specialist

Paul Coleman Graphic Designer

Office Locations Columbia, MO404 Portland St.Columbia, MO 65201Office: 573-443-1479Donor Hotline: 800-331-2636Fax: 573-443-1657

Hutchinson, KS 2 East 12th Ave.Hutchinson, KS 67501 Partner Relations: 620-259-7388 Office: 620-259-7300 Fax: 620-259-7323

Kansas City, MO10100 N. Ambassador Dr.Suite 200Kansas City, MO 64153Office: 816-454-5454Fax: 816-454-5446

Springfield, IL400 Chatham Rd.Suite 103 Springfield, IL 62704Office: 217-679-2987Fax: 217-670-0800

Springfield, MO3506 Culpepper CircleSuite D Springfield, MO 65804Office: 417-882-1532Fax: 417-882-8206

St. Louis, MO10801 Pear Tree LaneSuite 170 St. Louis, MO 63074Office: 314-428-4373Fax: 314-428-3751

ContactGeneral Information: 1-800-753-2265

Media Inquiries: 800-283-1982 ext. 101 or ext. 115 [email protected]

Saving Sight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to change lives by saving sight. Founded in Columbia, MO in 1960, the organization introduced the gift of sight to Missouri. Today, Saving Sight operates vision health programs that serve nearly 50,000 people worldwide each year, and its offices are located in Missouri, Kansas, and central Illinois.

We change lives by saving sight. And one of the ways we do that is by working hard to develop relationships with our partners and stakeholders. You can see some of the ways we strive to make meaningful connections in this issue of Perspectives, from supporting our childcare, hospital, and fellow eye bank partners, to offering our recipients and donor families the opportunity to connect through correspondence.

This March, Dr. Ronald Walkenbach retired after more than 30 years of service as our Executive Director. He was instrumental in fostering many of the relationships that resulted in our current level of success. He found ways that we could meet people’s vision health needs by partnering with Lions clubs, other eye banks, and healthcare professionals in our service area. Although we will miss him greatly, he’s leaving this organization in better shape than he found it. In 2013, we provided eye tissue for 2,630 corneal transplants, and KidSight screened a record-breaking 46,405 children. Thanks to Dr. Walkenbach’s 35 years of vision, we truly are changing more lives by saving sight. I’m honored to succeed him as the leader of this organization.

If you’re new to Saving Sight, I invite you to get to know more about us, and if you’ve been supporting us for years, see what we’re up to lately. As you read the stories that follow, ask yourself how you could get more involved in our mission. What can I do to change lives by saving sight? Consider making a financial donation to support our mission and getting involved in one of our programs as a volunteer. I know my colleagues and I would love to hear from you.

Until then, please enjoy this issue of Perspectives and learn how we’re connecting with people in your community to change lives.

Sincerely,

Tony BavusoChief Executive Officer

Perspectives |

Jachin Misko, Saving Sight’s Regional Director of Clinical Services, passed away just over a year ago. He was a pivotal leader in establishing the eye bank’s Descemet’s Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty cutting lab and procedures, an achievement that considerably enhanced the ability to provide specific tissues needed by recipients. Jachin was also a leader within the Eye Bank Association of America. That is why the Jachin Misko Memorial Scholarship for Technical Advancement in Eye Banking was created in his memory this past winter. Saving Sight partnered with Numedis, a manufacturer of corneal preservation media, to cover costs for an eye bank technician from an EBAA-member eye bank to attend the 2014 Technician Education Seminar (TES).

This year’s recipient was Monica Freiburger, an employee of Iowa Lions Eye Bank. Of her experience winning the award, she wrote, “I was both excited and humbled by the responsibility that came with this scholarship.” Freiburger gained technical skills to help her in her work as well as collaborative insight from fellow attendees. “My objectives for the TES were: to gain a better understanding of what different eye banks do in their day-to-day work, see how organizations work differently within the same regulatory guidelines to accomplish the same mission to improve sight, and to review the different roles of eye banking,” she said. “The TES fulfilled my goals and went beyond what I had imagined to learn.”

Tony Bavuso, chief executive officer, said, “I believe this is a particularly meaningful way to honor Jachin because it represents the impact he had on all of us and on changing lives by saving sight through eye banking.” The scholarship will be offered to a promising eye bank technician for at least the next four EBAA Technician Education Seminars.

Thanks to a grant from the Employees Community Fund of Boeing St. Louis, KidSight is increasing its impact on childcare facilities in the Greater St. Louis region. The pilot project involves expanding KidSight to make the vision screenings interactive and educational for children and parents. In conjunction with the vision screening, childcare partners will receive a children’s book about vision (I Can See Just Fine by Eric Barclay), a packet of carrot seeds to grow, promotional posters about healthy vision, and coloring pages about eye health. The project is designed to build relationships with childcare partners and raise KidSight’s visibility among parents. As a result, the KidSight staff hopes to help childcare partners teach their children about healthy vision and to better communicate with parents when their children are referred to eye doctors for detected vision problems.

Through the grant, Healthy Vision Day is being offered to 70 childcare facilities in the Greater St. Louis area (St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, Lincoln, Warren, and Franklin counties and St. Louis City). When the project is completed this fall, the KidSight team will refine Healthy Vision Day based on partner feedback and then seek support to grow the project on a broader scale.

KidSight Pilots Healthy Vision Day in St. Louis Area

Misko Continues to Advance Eye Banking Through Memorial Scholarship

Perspectives |


Correspondence after donation and transplantation can be a positive part of the healing process for many people. Saving Sight offers donor families and cornea transplant recipients the opportunity to write to each other in a safe, positive environment. Acting as an intermediary, Saving Sight accepts the letters and then passes them on to the appropriate parties, which helps preserve everyone’s anonymity. Recipients and donor families alike have said that correspondence had therapeutic effects.

When Bonnie’s son, Cody, died in Divernon, Illinois after a car accident, he was able to donate skin and corneas. “Cody always wanted to be an organ donor,” she said. One of his corneas was received by Charlotte from Clinton, Missouri, who needed the transplant to treat a corneal infection that threatened to destroy her entire eye. Quite soon after her transplant surgery, Charlotte initiated the correspondence process with the help of Paul, her son who lived with her and cared for the family farm. Paul said his mother was eager to correspond with her donor’s family because she understood loss, having recently lost two

grandchildren. “Because of that unselfish loved one was a donor and gave me a gift, I still have my eye,” Paul remembered Charlotte saying. “So she wanted to contact the family and thank them.”

With Paul’s help, Charlotte sent a letter to Saving Sight which was then passed on to Scarlett, Cody’s wife. “Scarlett didn’t feel like she was ready to correspond, so I asked permission to correspond instead,” said Bonnie. And with that, Bonnie and Charlotte began the process of getting to know each other. “Charlotte was very understanding that someone died to give her this cornea,” Bonnie recalled. “She was a really sweet lady.”

When people correspond for more than a year and both parties consent to communicating without anonymity, Saving Sight will connect the donor family and recipient so they can pursue contact on their own. Bonnie and Charlotte wrote several letters in that first year and continued contact in the years that followed. “We talked on the phone sometimes, at birthdays and at Christmas,” Bonnie said. Eventually, Bonnie offered to visit Charlotte at her home in Clinton.

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“My daughter Tara and I had discussed from the time I first started corresponding with Charlotte how we would love to meet her, although we knew it would be difficult on us. However, Tara was unable to come with me so I drove there on June 16, 2012, which was Cody and Scarlett’s wedding anniversary,” Bonnie said. “I stayed at Charlotte’s house for three or four hours and met Paul. We had a wonderful visit. It was nice to have a part of Cody with her, to know that he lived on. Cody had big blue beautiful eyes, and I just loved the fact that I got to meet her and look in her eyes.” Paul said the feeling was mutual: “It meant a lot to Mom to get to finally meet the person behind the voice on the phone, as Mom was unable to travel long trips.”

Despite the happiness of meeting Charlotte face to face, Bonnie also found the experience to be emotionally trying. “I held it all together until I drove out of her driveway, and then I cried all the way home,” Bonnie said. “It was Father’s Day the next day and just meeting her – she was a wonderful lady. She was very appreciative of how Cody had died but was willing to give his cornea. She never took it for granted.

That’s why she wrote the letter – she wanted to know about the person who donated and his family.”

Charlotte’s daughter made quilted table cloths, and she gave one to Bonnie as a keepsake from their visit. “I cherish that,” Bonnie said. “Charlotte had health issues, and I think she knew we wouldn’t see each

other again.” In April of 2013, Charlotte passed away at the age of 91, and thanks to Paul’s care, she was able to remain on the farm until a few days before her death.

Paul described his mother as having “an abundance of love that she shared with her eight children and many outside her family” and that she “was proud of Bonnie’s friendship.” Bonnie, too, looks back fondly on the trip. “I felt so fortunate to have met Charlotte,” Bonnie said. “It’s hard to explain what it’s like to meet someone who has your son’s cornea. But I can’t say enough how blessed I felt by it all.”

To learn more about the young man who brought Bonnie and Charlotte together, read Cody’s story: https://www.saving-sight.org/illinois-eye-donor-continues-help-others.

To learn more about the young man who brought Bonnie and Charlotte together, read Cody’s story: https://www.saving-sight.org/illinois-eye-donor-continues-help-others.

“It’s hard to explain what it’s like to meet someone

who has your son’s cornea. But I can’t say enough how

blessed I felt by it all.”-Bonnie

Perspectives |

After more than 35 years of service, Dr. Ronald Walkenbach retired from Saving Sight on March 14, 2014. For 32 of those years he served as Executive Director, driving exponential growth of the eye bank and creation of charitable programs, and in his final year, he moved into an Associate Director role to help guide Tony Bavuso, who succeeded him as leader of the organization.

Dr. Walkenbach joined Saving Sight, then known as the Missouri Eye Research Foundation, in late 1977 as a senior researcher. After completing his PhD in pharmacology at University of Missouri-Columbia, he took a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia where he researched treatments for diabetes. Originally from Hermann, Missouri, Dr. Walkenbach was visiting home from Virginia when he was invited to apply for a position at the Foundation. He received the job, then a grant from the National Eye Institute, and he began his corneal research. “I was applying the pharmacological approach to the physiology and applying it to the cornea to see if similar things were going on,” he said. “Lower forms of mammals have the ability to regenerate their endothelium in response to disease or an accident. But apes, monkeys, humans, and cats don’t, and we haven’t found the reason yet.” Dr. Walkenbach and his team determined that hormones could be used to control the cornea, but they weren’t able to bring

in each case. After surgery he spent three to four days in the hospital, and he didn’t receive glasses until six months later. He remembers wondering after the first surgery if he’d ever see out of that eye again. But his vision did return. “I remember being in the lab washing beakers, looking out the window through this beaker, and I could see the fibers of the towel and the prism effect,” he recalled. “I could see.” With his sight renewed, he was able to continue his research, and in 1981, he became Executive Director of the Missouri Eye Research Foundation, splitting his time between research and administrative duties.

In the decades that followed, Dr. Walkenbach sought to grow the eye bank. “I wanted to continue the research, but growing the eye bank was the most obvious thing to work toward,” he said. “There was a shortage of corneas and we needed to make people more receptive to donation.” This work eventually required him to end his research after 20 years. “I came to the realization that I couldn’t be the best I could be at both things,” he said. “I liked the intellectual challenge of research, but I started getting more sleep when I devoted myself to administration.”

Concentrating his energy on the organization’s programs led to exponential growth in the late 1990s. Through a Lions Clubs


about any “grandiose change” to a diseased or injured cornea. “In those days, we were looking for ways to make the endothelial cells undergo mitosis,” he said. “When too many cells died, a person needed a transplant. So if you could get cells to undergo mitosis once, that’d give you enough cells for the rest of your life. We were looking to make an eye drop that would cause endothelial mitosis.” He and his team never found the answer they sought, but nobody else did either and that’s why corneal transplants remain the primary treatment for many corneal diseases and injuries.

Dr. Walkenbach may never have taken that senior researcher position had he not experienced the gift of sight firsthand. In 1966, he was diagnosed with keratoconus, a disease that causes the corneas to distort and thin. By 1972, while a graduate student at Mizzou, his left cornea was clouded over to the point of requiring a transplant. He received the surgery and continued his studies, but coincidentally, the surgeon, then chair of the ophthalmology department at Mizzou, suggested that Dr. Walkenbach check out MERF. Eventually, during his fellowship in Virginia, his right eye reached the point of requiring a transplant, too. Back then, donation and eye banking were not as advanced as they are now, so Dr. Walkenbach had to wait about three months for a donor cornea to become available

Perspectives |

International grant, amblyopia screenings began as a volunteer project with St. Louis-area Lions (now called KidSight, this program screens 42,000+ children per year). He also started an Eye Care Assistance program to serve Missourians who could not afford crucial eye care but did not qualify for government aid. And in 1997, he and his leadership staff orchestrated agreements to facilitate eye donation beyond Missouri. “By taking over operations of central Illinois and most of Kansas, we had enough hospitals to get a steady supply of corneas,” he said. With a critical mass of hospitals and eye donors, the new eye bank, Heartland Lions Eye Banks, was able to offer surgeons the corneal tissue they needed when they needed it, eliminating the waiting list. “It was scary to start offering corneas on a scheduled basis,” he said. “But it went amazingly well. Once surgeons put in orders, we liked it better because we knew where the need was. We had extremely few times when we couldn’t provide.”

By the early 2000s, Dr. Walkenbach required another set of corneal transplants. The original donor tissue was still healthy, but his corneas around the donor tissue had deteriorated further. Twenty-eight years later, though, this time as the Executive Director of one of the largest eye banks in the world, Dr. Walkenbach experienced the fruit of his labors firsthand. Due to the growth of eye banking and advancements in surgical technique, his surgeon requested tissue from Heartland Lions Eye Banks, scheduled an operating room for surgery, replaced Dr. Walkenbach’s cornea, and sent him home two hours after surgery. “It was amazingly noninvasive,” he remembers. “The sutures were much finer this time, and they were sewn in a different manner, enabling control of the astigmatism. I had good vision shortly after surgery, even without glasses.”

Eye banking, surgical technique, and public sentiment about donation have advanced in complement to each other in the past 35 years, and as a result, more people receive the gift of sight each year. In fact, when Dr. Walkenbach started as Executive Director, the eye bank provided tissue for 70 transplants per year. And in the last fiscal year before his retirement, his organization provided tissue for 2,578 transplants. “Moving from a shortage of tissue and emergency surgeries to recovering enough tissue and scheduled surgeries has made a night-and-day difference for patients, surgeons, hospitals, everybody,” he said. This growth in the eye bank, in addition to conducting his federally funded research for 20 years, is what he considers his proudest achievement.

Dr. Walkenbach’s achievements are tremendous, and his retirement is well-deserved. “I’m looking forward to doing the things I did on a limited basis before: cycling, bow hunting, fishing, honey-do lists, some more traveling,” he said. “I’m also trying to incorporate those things that I and my wife like to do into our traveling. We want to go somewhere, but we don’t have anything in particular other than seeing the grandkids.” The staff of Saving Sight congratulate him on an outstanding career and wish him an enjoyable retirement. He’s earned it.

Perspectives |

Past District Governor Jerry and Lion Judy Young of Springfield, Missouri know firsthand the value of being a donor. The Youngs’ involvement with Lions began when PDG Jerry joined a club in Minnesota in 1973, and their support of eye banking organizations like Saving Sight has continued since. Their financial contributions and planned giving are important to them. Those gifts serve as a thank you and reminder for a friend who, thanks to transplant surgery, could continue her needlepoint hobby with repaired sight. Their favorite activity is the 4th Grade + Lions = Teamwork project they developed to teach young people about community service and empathy to those facing sight challenges. Nine lessons engage students in Lionism, mathematics, writing, social studies, coping, and overcoming. The curriculum culminates in an interpretive history walk through a local park created by the Springfield Host Lions and a pizza party where students eat lunch blindfolded. Throughout the lessons, volunteers from the blind community, the Lions, and Saving Sight staff work together to ensure the program’s success.

The Youngs’ passion for sight preservation and education extends to eyeglass recycling as well, which has afforded them the opportunity to spend long weekends on mission trips in Mexico distributing and fitting eyeglasses for those in need. While exhausting, the energy spent was well worth the investment.

Whether it is through time, talent, treasure, or all three at once, they live the Lions motto “We Serve.” “It is the direct contact with people who need service or the youth who learn about service that motivates us to continue [our contributions],” Lion Judy said. “Even today we run into kids and adults that worked with us many years ago. It’s rewarding to see.”

Lions Teach Young People About Community Service

Perspectives |

Beth Williams, RN (pictured center) is the Director of Medical-Surgical Nursing at St. Francis Health Center (SFHC) in Topeka, Kansas, where she has worked for 26 years. As chairperson of the organ and tissue donation committee at St. Francis for the past five years, she leads a group of her coworkers in developing policies and creating a hospital culture that supports donation. “We’ve worked a lot with Midwest Transplant Network and Saving Sight to make sure when someone is eligible to be a donor, we do everything we can so they have the opportunity to donate,” she said. Darin Manlove (pictured far right), Saving Sight’s partner relations coordinator, added, “They have a stable team at St. Francis that maintains a culture supportive of donation. Their staff education includes donation, and the hospital administration is very supportive of donation.”

The committee is comprised of people from several departments, including nurses from various units, chaplains, and typically someone from the hospital’s ethics committee. “We don’t have that many deaths like in a bigger city, but it’s satisfying to the staff to know they helped play a part for the recipients,” Beth said. When a patient from St. Francis becomes an eye donor, Saving Sight provides the staff with follow-up information to let them know who was helped by that particular donation. “The feedback we get from Saving Sight helps us understand and be better,” she said. “It’s nice to know we were successful and somebody was helped.”

Beth finds Kansas’ first-person consent registry, initiated in 2010, to be helpful at her hospital. Through the new registry, Kansans can make an official determination to become a donor at time of death. “The registry takes the agony out of [the choice to donate] for the families because the decision’s already made,” Beth said. That’s why Beth and her team hold regular organ, eye, and tissue donor registry drives at their hospital. “It helps, and it works,” she said. “The drives make people more aware.”

Increasing awareness about donation and the donor registry has been a key objective for Beth and her team. “We had a program in November where we had donors, family members of donors, and recipients speak,” Beth said. “Someone who worked here had a liver transplant, so with that personal connection, listening to her story was pretty awe-inspiring.” Last year the staff and administration coordinated to have the hospital’s fountain dyed green, the official color of donation. “That was pretty fun,” she said. “Sometimes I think people who work outside the patient care area don’t know as much about eye and organ donation. It’s pretty cool to get their attention – they saw it.”

These tactics seem to be working. The consent rate for eye donation increased 7% last fiscal year, and 22 people received cornea transplants in 2013 thanks to generous donors at St Francis Health Center. Darin Manlove, who nominated Beth and her team for Champion of Donation, said, “They are all very committed to donation. At every donor council meeting we discuss ways to improve the donation process and ensure every possible donor has the best chance to donate. Beth leads the group by example.”

Join Beth and the team of St. Francis Health Center by joining your state’s donor registry either online at donatelife.net or in person at your local Department of Motor Vehicles office.

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Thanks to our generous donors: July 1, 2013 - March 31, 2014

Champion Gifts of $2500 or moreCommunity Foundation of the OzarksGreater St. Louis Health FoundationMildred Dial EstateMissouri Foundation for HealthSarah Billingsley TrustThorp FoundationVirginia L. Eberwein Estate

Leader Gifts of $2499-$1000Mr. Wayne & PDG Jene CrookEmployees Community Fund of Boeing St. LouisGreater Kansas City Community Foundation and Affiliated TrustsMFA FoundationNumedis Inc.PDG John & Lion Kathy ReeseMs. Mildred SharpMr. & Mrs. Jon & Maxine Simmons

Guardian Gifts of $999-$500Mr. Douglas BlackMs. Laverne LutteMrs. Sharon NichollsNorth American Conference of Lions FoundationsMs. Jane PhillipsMs. Thelma RellergertDr. Dan SchoenleberMr. Lewis SoutherlandSouthland Medical CorporationUrsuline Sisters of Mount Saint JosephMs. Anne WatersPDG Jerry & Lion Judy Young

Defender Gifts of $499-$250Mr. John BaileyMr. Ronald BurrowsMs. Ann CarneyGascosage Electric CooperativeMs. Eleanor GoodwinMrs. Jane HoodLion Allen & Ruth LohsandtMr. Barrie MebaneMr. Robert PirmantgenMrs. Eleanor RamseyMr. & Mrs. Tim & Amber Lynne RedburnMr. & Mrs. Thomas & Yvonne RoccoMrs. Nancy RohanMr. & Mrs. Michael & Connie ScottVDG Emery SmolaVRL LaboratoriesMr. Robert Zorn

Protector Gifts of $249-$100Alabama Eye BankMs. Brenda BarberMr. & Mrs. Tony & Julie BavusoMr. & Mrs. Peter BeckersPCC Al & PDG Debbie BlumenbergMs. Norma BondMs. Myrtle BradenMr. Glen BrandtMrs. Shirley BrunerMs. Sharon BrysonMr. & Mrs. Earl and Joyce CaldwellMr. Fredrick CaldwellMr. Hershel CaseyCentral Missouri Electric CooperativeMr. & Mrs. Richard ChilesMr. & Mrs. William ChisholmPDG Gary & Lion Donna ClarksonClayton CorporationMr. Fred CollinsMs. Frances CooperMr. & Mrs. James & Gayle CoxD.E. Garner & AssociatesMs. Dixie DavidsonMrs. Luella DavinMr. George DavisMrs. Ann DechantMr. John DeLaMareMrs. Betty DeLuceMr. Robert DuddyMs. Betty FagerFarmers Ag & Grain Supply, Inc.Mr. & Mrs. Michael & Sheila FieldsMs. Charlene FriedmanMr. Joseph GadberryMr. Thomas GibbensMrs. Lois GilhamMr. & Mrs. Paul and Betty GournoeLions Walter & Kathleen GreenMrs. Arlene GriffithsMr. & Mrs. John HarperMs. Leona HenschenMs. Mary Jean HirshMrs. Susan HolleyMr. Michael HortonMs. Rosann HuninghakeMrs. Elizabeth JaegerMr. David JeffreyMs. Ruth JuddMs. Salley KiddMs. Doris KinkerMs. Jerri KnightMr. Lyle KrohnMr. & Mrs. Joe & Annie KuhlMrs. Dorothy Laverentz

Protector Gifts of $249-$100 Lions Business Opportunities for the Missouri BlindMs. Norma LockwoodMrs. Helen MalerMrs. Joyce McDanielMs. Ione McIntyreMs. Carol McJessyMr. Lawrence MeyrMrs. Geraldine NelsonMs. Tamara OberbeckOddo DevelopmentMs. Donnette OehmkeMs. Rieta O’NealMr. James OrwigLions Ronald & Mary PauleyMr. & Mrs. Marion & Carol PemberMr. & Mrs. Gene PotterMr. & Mrs. Paul & Katherine RehorMr. Cecil ReidMrs. Dorothy RichardsonMs. Madonna RiesenmyMrs. Dorothy RobbinsMrs. Annette RuetherMs. Emilie RungePDG Ken & Lion Olivia SchimelDr. John SchiroMrs. Sherma ScottMr. & Mrs. John & Jacquelyn SettlageMr. Norbert ShankinMr. Steven SickingerMrs. Caroline SignorMs. Effie SimmonsMr. John SimonPDG Robert & Lion Reta SmithMrs. Jean StarkMr. & Mrs. Allen & Betsy Marie SternerDelta SystemsMr. Robert TaylorMs. Helen L. ThompsonMs. Gretchen TinkleMr. & Mrs. Mark & Brenda TolmachoffTrue Manufacturing CompanyMr. Russell TurnerUnited Way of Wyandotte County, Inc.Ms. Helen VaughanMrs. Helen VaughnMr. & Mrs. John & Christa ViznerMrs. Denise VoylesMrs. Beverly WarnerMr. Henry Waters lllMs. Ila M. WattsWest Central Electric Cooperative, Inc.Mr. Herbert WilsonMr. Edmond Wolfram

Giv

ing

is E

asy KidSight and our community vision programs are

funded thanks to financial donations from our generous supporters. For example, your gift of $100 will help us screen at least 10 children for common vision problems.

You can make a donation or establish a recurring gift through saving-sight.org/give.

You can mail a check to us at:404 Portland St. Columbia, MO 65201

Perspectives |

Lions Carl & Stacy BakerRichard AntrobusBob BachtelSarah BillingsleyLion Bill BrunerDavid BrunsPDG Dan BuschmannEllen CaldwellCecil CunninghamIda DiehmPDG Alvin DuffnerKay EnloeLion Lou EricksonLeroy FentonJames HaakeDave HarrisCarol HellerLion Laura Helmich

Gifts in Memory

Lion Sight Saver Gifts of $2000 and moreCape Girardeau LionsCreve Coeur LionsHermann LionsJonesburg LionsLions All-Star Basketball Classic - Dist. M6Lions Disaster Response Team of Western MissouriMissouri Lions Multiple District 26Past District Governor Association, District 26-M5St. Joseph Host LionsWebster Groves Lions

Lion Benefactor Gifts of up to $999 Alma LionsBernie LionsBranson-Hollister LionsBrookfield LionsBuffalo LionsCamdenton LionsCape Girardeau Evening LionsChristian County LionsColumbia 20/20 LionsColumbia Host LionsDiamond LionsEast Perry County LionsEldon LionsElkland LionsFairport LionsFarmington LionsFenton LionsGainesville LionsGallatin LionsGarden City Noon LionsGlasgow LionsGrayville Lions ClubHale LionsHarrisburg LionsHarrisonville LionsHartville LionsHigginsville LionsHigh Hill LionsHolts Summit LionsHuntsville LionsIndependence Host LionsIndependence Noland Road Lions

Lion Benefactor Gifts of up to $999 Jefferson City Breakfast Lions Jefferson City Capital LionsJefferson City Host LionsJonesburg LionessesKahoka LionsKansas City Red Bridge LionsKennett LionsKimberling City LionsKnob Noster LionsLa Grange LionsLebanon Host LionsLee’s Summit LionsLexington LionsLions District 13-ALions District 20-E2Lions District 5-SKNLions of Georgia District 18-ILouisburg LionsLouisiana LionsMacon LionsMadison LionessMalden LionsMarceline LionsMarionville LionsMarshall LionsMeramec Heights LionsMexico Noon LionsMissouri Lions District 26-M6Moberly LionsMorrisville LionsMoscow Mills LionsMountain Grove Lions

Lion Benefactor Gifts of up to $999 Nelson Lions Nevada LionsNew Florence LionsNorborne LionsNorthwest Texas County LionsO’Fallon LionsOld Monroe LionsPast District Governors of District 26 M2Pickering LionsPlatte City LionsPleasant Hill LionsPrairie Home LionsRaymore LionsRepublic LionsRock Port LionsSainte Genevieve LionsSalisbury LionsSeymour LionsSmithville LionsSpringfield Evening LionsSpringfield Host LionsSt. Louis Downtown LionsTrenton LionsUnionville LionsWappapello LionsWarrensburg LionsWellington LionsWentzville LionsWest Plains LionsWeston LionsWoodson Terrace LionsWright City Lions

Lion Patron Gifts of $1999 to $1000 Chesterfield LionsHamilton LionsHouston LionsJefferson City Evening LionsLake Winnebago LionsLinn LionsMexico Host LionsMonett Lions

Lion Patron Gifts of $1999 to $1000 Paris LionsRolla LionsSedalia LionsSpringfield Queen City LionsSummitVersailles LionsWashington Lions

Lion Herbert C. JamesPDG Donald JonesLion Ruth KloepferPeggy KriegKaren LurveyGayle MagesLion Ed MaisonheimerPDG Don MatlockPDG George McCormickLarry MiskelMary M. MorrisStephen NormanSam ParkerClaire PettengillAlta Louise PulliamCharles RampleyChristopher RehorJames Ruether

Marilyn SchaeferLion Herman W. SchulteKathy SnipesRichard J. SporlederLion David SterneLou StollSharon TaylorRuth ThorpeDick TongateFloyd “Chuck” TownsendEd TrainorLion Ed WankumPDG Vince WarrenPDG Ralph WienkeFrances “Nadine” WilliamsAlice Wise

Lions Club Giving: July 1, 2013 - March 31, 2014

300,000

Mr. & Mrs. Leland & Sue AdamsMr. & Mrs. Victor & Jo Ann AdamsMr. & Mrs. David & Mary Lee AholtMr. & Mrs. Don & Barbara AlsupMr. & Mrs. Randy & Grace AndersonMrs. Marilyn AndreMrs. Avis ArellanesMs. Sylvia ArmstrongMr. Robert AselMs. Vida AshleyMs. Victoria AtkinsMs. Patricia AveryLion Brad BakerMr. & Mrs. Larry & Debbie BalkMr. & Mrs. Thomas & Ann BallardMr. & Mrs. Larry & Helen BallmanMr. Albert BarnettMrs. Barbara BaserMr. & Mrs. Don & Brenda BeatyMr. & Mrs. Maurice & Mary BenskinMrs. Mary BlakeMrs. Phyllis BosleyMs. Donna BouyeMr. & Mrs. Daryl & Kelly BowlesMr. & Mrs. Stephen & Ginger BrinkerMr. Andrew BrownMr. & Mrs. Kevin & Nicole BrueggemannMs. Verna BurchettMs. Kathy BusenMr. & Mrs. Cecil & Phyllis CaldwellMs. Elvia CaldwellMr. & Mrs. Jim & Jewel CaldwellMs. Trudy CaldwellMrs. Donna CarlenMs. Miriam CarrollMr. Richard CarswellMr. Ernest ChancePat ChrisenberryMrs. Janice ChurchMs. Georganna ClarkMr. William ClarksonMr. Paul ColemanMs. Lillian CollinsContinental Title Holding CompanyMr. Thomas CookMr. & Mrs. Paul & Mary Ann CoulterCurtis & Sons, Inc.Mr. & Mrs. Mike & Peggy CurtoDavid Barton Elementary School StaffMr. Jerry DavisMrs. Susan DeanMr. John DedenMs. Helen DuerksenMr. James DuitsmanMs. Kimberly EdwardsMr. & Mrs. Leland & Karen Elliott

Mr. & Mrs. Larry & Barbara ElliottMr. & Mrs. Charles & Joyce EmbreeMr. Roy EnloeMr. George EstabrookMs. Carolyn FalcomataMr. Richard FedeMr. & Mrs. Richard & Mary Ann FelkelMr. Larry FischerMr. & Mrs. Gary & Patti FreemanPID Dwayne & Lion Jeanette GarrettMr. & Mrs. Bob & Betty GartonMr. Albert GatesMs. Melinda GaulMr. & Mrs. Garry & Terri GerhartMrs. Catherine GildehausMr. & Mrs. Ray GoingsMs. Joan GoodwinGreene Hills Ladies Golf AssociationMs. Mae GribbleMr. Wallace GrossMs. Mary GuestMs. Elsa GuidiMr. & Mrs. Rex GumpHackman ElectricMs. June HaerMr. Max HarralMr. Russell HarrisMs. Christina HarrisMr. & Mrs. Jim and Rama HartMs. Eleanor HaughtonMr. Ronald HeinzLion Becky HendersonMs. Amy HenryHermann Area Chamber of CommerceMr. & Mrs. Ammon & Marlene HizerMr. Roy Garey HodgeMr. William HoffmanMr. Jerry HolcombMr. & Mrs. Brian & Dawn HoltMrs. Betty HorinekMrs. Joan HughesMr. Vernon HumphreySyed HuqMs. Darlene IsaacsMs. Gertrude IsringhausenMr. & Mrs. Owen & Pat JacksonMs. Leona JacobsMr. Albert JarosikJasper County Title CompanyMr. Delbert JohnstonMrs. Eleanor JonesMrs. Jean Jones Sudarshan KapoorMr. Alvin KelleyMr. & Mrs. Richard & Janice KlenkeMs. Darlene KnoerleMrs. Bettie Koelling

Mr. Melvin KoesterKorean War Veterans AuxiliaryMr. & Mrs. Paul & Cecelia LandgrafBJ & DR LehenbauerMs. Elaine LehmannMrs. Dorothy LevyMs. Mary LinnemanMr. Richard LittonMr. and Mrs. Lance LivesayMr. James MaendeleMr. & Mrs. John & Kathleen ManionMr. & Mrs. Ron & Barbara MarsekMr. Terry McCallumMs. Doris McCannMs. Juanita McCreightMrs. Ellen McDonnellMs. Aura MelendezScott, Stacy, & Molly MertzMr. & Mrs. Marty & Christi MillerMrs. Marilyn MillerMr. & Mrs. William & Betty MoonMr. Donald E. MorrisMrs. Gabriella MountainNatural Healing CentersMrs. Pauline NelsonMs. Ramona NeumannMrs. Fern NewsomNewton’s Total CareMrs. Belva NiemannMr. & Mrs. James & Patricia NorrisMrs. Vivian NortonMr. & Mrs. Michael & Tammy OlszowkaMr. & Mrs. Eric & Linda OttenMs. Caroline OvertonMr. William OylerMs. Georgette PageMs. Sandra PainterMs. Martha ParkerMr. & Mrs. Ralph & Betty PaschallPDG Stuart & Lion Marlene PayneMs. Helen PearlMs. Elfriede PenceMs. Flo PraiswaterMr. Arsenio QuangueyMr. & Mrs. Kenny & Susan RainsMs. Jasmine ReeseMs. Pat RenaudMr. & Mrs. Gary & Janice ReynoldsMs. Marcia RhodesSr. Teresa RileyMr. Marvin O. RossMr. & Mrs. Sherman & Dora RotskoffMr. Daniel RuetherMrs. Norma RussellMr. & Mrs. Gary SamuelMr. & Mrs. Fred & Brenda SchafferMs. Julia Schellch

Ms. Ann SchonhoffMr. Elmer SchottSecurity Abstract & Title, Inc.Mr. & Mrs. Louis & Karen ShawMrs. Patricia ShoemakeMr. & Mrs. Dan SieveMs. Florence SimonMr. & Mrs. Steve & Denise SlonikerMs. Elsie SmithMs. Ava Nell SmithMs. Janis SmithMr. Emmet SpearingMs. Sandra SpeckMr. Wilson SpeerMs. Linda SquireMs. Lisa StanckMrs. Esther SteinhauerMs. Shirley SteinmeyerMr. Donald StewartMrs. Charlene StewartMs. Joyce StewartMs. Pearl StonebrakerMr. Kenneth StormerMr. & Mrs. Mark & Patricia StretzMs. Marjorie StrouseMs. Betty SwansonMr. Samuel TarsonMs. Mary Lee TignerMr. Roger ToelkesMs. Magdalena TrickMrs. Nadine TrollingerMr. Jack TurnerMrs. Carol ValdiviezMr. William VanceMr. & Mrs. Bruce & Margaret ViertelMs. Joyce VirtueDr. Bill WaddellLion Ron WalkenbachDr. & Mrs. Jay & Rosemary WardMrs. La Von WarnerMs. G. Faye WatsonMs. Alice WehmhoenerMr. Jerome WeilerMr. & Mrs. Larry & Martha WeldonMs. Beverly WilcoxMr. & Mrs. Brent and Carol WilhelmMs. Mary WilkersonMr. Russell WilliamsonMr. & Mrs. Jim & Nancy WilsonMr. & Mrs. Harold & Bonnie WilsonMs. Jacqueline WimmerMs. Doris WittigMr. & Mrs. Harry & Carol WoodruffMr. & Mrs. Barbara & Mark WooldridgeMr. Thomas ZachMr. & Mrs. Lorenzo & Maria Zavala

Friends of Saving Sight: July 1, 2013 - March 31, 2014 Gifts up to $99

In October 2013, KidSight reached an incredible milestone: 300,000 children screened since the program began in 1995.

Hospital / Hospice Name Donors TransplantsAbraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital (IL) 7 9Audrain Medical Center (MO) 1 0Bob Wilson Memorial Grant County Hospital (KS) 2 2Boone Hospital Center (MO) 8 11Bothwell Regional Health Center (MO) 3 3Capital Region Medical Center (MO) 8 11Carlinville Area Hospital (IL) 1 2Christian County Coroner (MO) 1 2Citizens Medical Center (KS) 1 2Citizens Memorial Healthcare (MO) 3 2Clay County Hospital (IL) 1 0Coffey County Hospital (KS) 1 2Comanche County Hospital (KS) 1 2Community Hospital Onaga (KS) 1 2Community Memorial Healthcare (KS) 2 1Cox Medical Center Branson (MO) 5 2CoxHealth Systems - Monett (MO) 4 4CoxHealth Systems - South (MO) 61.5 41Douglas County Coroner (KS) 1 2Ellett Memorial Hospital (MO) 1 1Fairfax Community Hospital (MO) 1 2Fitzgibbon Memorial Hospital (MO) 1 1Freeman Health Systems - Neosho (MO) 2 2Freeman Health Systems - West (MO) 23.5 15Frontier Forensics (KS) 11 20Geary Community Hospital (KS) 2 2Golden Valley Memorial Hospital (MO) 3 4Great Bend Regional Hospital (KS) 1 1Hamilton County Hospital (KS) 1 0Harrison County Community Hospital (MO) 1 2Harry S. Truman Veterans Hospital (MO) 4 5Heartland Regional Medical Center (MO) 12 15Herington Municipal Hospital (KS) 1 0Hiawatha Community Hospital (KS) 1 2Hospice (IL) 1 0Hospice of Reno County, Inc (KS) 1 0Hutchinson Regional Medical Center (KS) 6 6Kansas City VA Medical Center (MO) 4 2Labette Health (KS) 2 3Lafayette Regional Health Center (MO) 1 2Lake Regional Hospital (MO) 5 7Landmark Hospital of Columbia (MO) 2 2Landmark Hospital of Joplin (MO) 1 0Lawrence Memorial Hospital (KS) 8 10Memorial Medical Center (IL) 23 15Mercy Health Center - Fort Scott (KS) 2 2Mercy Hospital - Cassville (MO) 2 1Mercy Hospital - Independence (KS) 5 4Mercy Hospital - Jefferson (MO) 8 8Mercy Hospital - Joplin (MO) 5 4Mercy Hospital - Lebanon (MO) 2 0Mercy Hospital - Springfield (MO) 60 34Mercy Hospital, Washington (MO) 6 8Mercy Maude Norton Memorial Hospital (KS) 2 4

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48,000

48,000 Americans will require a cornea transplant this year

to restore their vision due to corneal

disease or injury.

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Hospital / Hospice Name Donors TransplantsMercy McCune - Brooks (MO) 1.5 0Mercy Regional Health Center - College Campus (KS) 2 4Meyer Orthopedic & Rehabilitation Hospital (MO) 1 1Miami County Medical Center (KS) 5 4Minneola District Hospital (KS) 1 0Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems (KS) 1 2Morris County Hospital (KS) 1 2Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center (KS) 1 2Nevada Regional Medical Center (MO) 1 2Newman Regional Health (KS) 3 4Newton Medical Center (KS) 2 2Northeast Regional Medical Center (MO) 4 6Northwest Medical Center (MO) 1 0Norton County Hospital (KS) 1 2Olathe Medical Center (KS) 7 10Ottawa County Hospital (KS) 2 4Ozarks Medical Center (MO) 1 0Paris Community Hospital (IL) 1 2Passavant Area Hospital (IL) 2 4Pershing Memorial Hospital (MO) 1 0Phelps County Regional Medical Center (MO) 7 8Pike County Memorial Hospital (MO) 1 1Providence Medical Center (KS) 5 10Ransom Memorial Hospital (KS) 1 2Rice County District Hospital (KS) 1 0Russell Regional Hospital (KS) 1 1Salem Memorial District Hospital (MO) 2 2Samaritan Memorial Hospital (MO) 1 2Sarah Bush Lincoln Health System (IL) 4 5Scotland County Hospital (MO) 1 0Scott County Hospital (KS) 1 0Select Specialty Hospital - Kansas City (KS) 1 0Select Specialty Hospital - Topeka (KS) 1 2Select Specialty Hospital of Springfield (MO) 2 3Smith County Memorial Hospital (KS) 1 0St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital (IL) 2 4St. Catherine Hospital (KS) 4 0St. Francis Hospital - Litchfield (IL) 2 3St. Francis Hospital - Topeka (KS) 4 4St. John's Hospital (IL) 23 21St. Luke Hospital & Living Center (KS) 1 2St. Luke's Cushing Hospital (KS) 2 4St. Marys Good Samaritan - Centralia (IL) 1 0St. Mary's Health Center - Jefferson City (MO) 11 19Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital (MO) 1 0Texas County Memorial Hospital (MO) 2 2Trego County - Lemke Memorial Hospital (KS) 1 1University Hospital and Clinics (MO) 20 32University of Kansas Hospital (KS) 21 28Via Christi Health (KS) 4 2Wamego City Hospital (KS) 1 2Washington County Memorial Hospital (MO) 2 0Western Missouri Medical Center (MO) 2 4Wilson Medical Center (KS) 1 2

7 7 people received a

cornea transplant each day through tissue provided by Saving Sight in 2013. By partnering with your

hospital, we can help even more people receive the

gift of sight in 2014.

Hutchinson

Spring�eld

Spring�eld

Kansas City

Hutchinson, KSDarin [email protected]

Kansas City, MOJustina Barnes RN, BSN816-454-5454 [email protected]

Springfield, MOKharim Strayhorn 417-882-1532 [email protected]

Springfield, IL Michala Stoker Interim816-454-5454 [email protected]

Partner Relations Contacts

Saving Sight’s partner relations staff members work to communicate with local hospitals, medical centers and hospices about donation. Listed below is the contact information and service area for each of our Partner Relations Coordinators.

St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, IL adopted a program from the Kyle Zuleg Foundation to provide comfort and support to organ donor families during the donation process. When consent for organ donation has been obtained, a “Forever in our Hearts” monogrammed blanket, provided by the Foundation, is hand-delivered to the family by a St. John’s employee. The hospital’s organ and tissue donation committee is a strong advocate for donation, understanding that the families are facing the tragic loss of someone they love. Learn more at www.kyleshineson.org.

Thanks to Lawrence Memorial Hospital for their ongoing support of donation. On March 14, the hospital supported an informational table in the atrium for National Eye Donor Month. Staff and the public were able to stop by and ask questions to learn about organ, tissue, and cornea donation.

Saving Sight would like to thank the staff members of Freeman Health System and Mercy Hospital Joplin for hosting the Joplin Celebration of Life/Rose Dedication Ceremony together on April 22 as well as all of their time and effort spent in support of donation throughout the year.

Nonprofit OrgUS Postage

PAIDSt. Louis MOPermit #4400

To honor Dr. Walkenbach’s achievements and recognize his love of research,

Saving Sight has started a legacy program in his name: the Dr. Ronald Walkenbach

Corneal Transplant Fellowship. The program will honor his service by advancing

innovation in corneal transplantation through collaborative partnerships with corneal

surgeons. To make a financial contribution in support of Dr. Walkenbach’s legacy

program, give online at www.saving-sight.org/give or send a check to 404 Portland

St., Columbia, MO 65201 with a note mentioning this program.

404 Portland StreetColumbia, MO 65201P: 800-753-2265F: 573-443-1657saving-sight.org

Dr. Ronald Walkenbach Corneal Transplant Fellowship

Perspectives Summer 2014

Documents

Transcript of Perspectives Summer 2014