Eyeworld

14 | EYEWORLD | DECEMBER 2023 ASCRS NEWS ASCRS FOUNDATION UPDATE Contact info@ascrsfoundation.org up every day for the individuals who benefit from your contributions. Operation Sight has continued to be crucial for financially vulnerable, uninsured individuals who risk job loss due to decreased vision. Through a network of 730 volunteers across the nation, more than 8,600 surgeries have now been delivered to those most in need. This year, the ASCRS Foundation celebrat- ed our 8th National Sight Week from October 8–14, as a means to draw attention to blindness and vision impairment. During National Sight Week, we showed our appreciation to those committed to making a difference in prevent- able blindness in their local community and provided opportunities for the entire ophthal- mic community to do their part as well. Overseas the ASCRS Foundation seeks to address not just individual cases of cataract blindness but to fight its root cause: the short- age of eye surgeons in the developing world. The solution to this issue is two-fold: to create world-class medical centers where efficient Your support changes lives: a letter to our community from the ASCRS Foundation "With failing eyesight, my job was coming to an end and so was my ability to drive. Because of Operation Sight, I can see, work a substantial job, and drive with confidence, even at night. I could not have been blessed with a better program and group of people! Thank you for changing my life!" —Bruce, Operation Sight Patient T his is just one story of many that are made possible by the ASCRS Foun- dation's domestic charitable cataract surgery program, Operation Sight. Providing vision-restoring surgery to individuals allows them to reengage with their lives and families, secure employment that they might have lost as a result of their visual impair- ment, and much more. This has been a year of growth and ap- preciation for the ASCRS Foundation. As we rebounded from the impacts of the pandemic, we emerged with a newfound appreciation for those who make what we do possible. Our com- munity rallied around our mission and dug deep to show support for one another. Not a single accomplishment from this past year would have been possible without the tre- mendous resiliency and compassion of our part- ners, supporters, and greater ASCRS Foundation community. Thank you for continuing to show The ASCRS Foundation would like to welcome its new Executive Director, Abigail Markward, MBA. Ms. Markward has been involved in ophthalmol- ogy for more than 23 years, beginning in 2000 when she started as an account supervisor for an advertising agency specializing in medical device and pharmaceutical clients. Later, she moved to the client side in product manage- ment and marketing. Prior to beginning with the ASCRS Foundation, she had been working in ophthalmic publishing. She finds that the shared mission to prevent blindness and improve eyesight for patients is something she likes best about ophthalmol- ogy and similarly was attracted to the ASCRS Foun dation with its mission to educate, provide resources, and empower ophthalmologists to serve and deliver humanitarian ophthalmic sur- gery and care in the U.S. and internationally. In her new role with the ASCRS Foundation, she is looking forward to the restructuring and streamlining of Operation Sight to create more impact for more patients, as well as working with the ASCRS and ASOA teams to identify new and impactful programs to further the mission. New ASCRS Foundation Executive Director continued on page 16

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