When more than 30 Boston University premedical students formed Unite for Sight, a group aimed at funding corrective eye surgery for people in a poverty-stricken areas of the world, members said they quickly realized the impact their fundraising efforts would have.
“It’s really gratifying and really humbling,” Finances Vice President Aanchal Sharma said. “We literally bring the brightness into people’s lives.”
Formed in September 2006, the group, founded by College of Arts and Sciences senior Nalini Gupta, joined with the pre-optometry club to form a chapter of the non-profit organization which works toward preserving eyesight worldwide.
The club collaborated with the university’s pre-med office to host several group events last semester to raise funds, including a date auction. The Dec. 8 “Eye Candy Date Auction” raised $1,200 for cataract surgery in Ghana, enough for 20 surgeries. After surpassing the $1,000 goal, Gupta said the Unite for Sight organization will present an award to the chapter for its auction work at a conference at Stanford University in April.
“I was looking for a community service organization that involved the United States and other countries,” Gupta said. “It’s for people who want to do community service on a monthly basis in the field of optometry or ophthalmology.
“The reason this group was created is that 80 percent of blindness is preventable,” she continued.
Sharma, who helped coordinate the auction, said it took about two months to put together and will become an annual event for as long as she is at BU,
Other events included members holding a fundraiser dinner at Uno’s Chicago Grill earlier in the year.
In addition, the chapter held a vision screening test for individuals without health insurance at the Boston Family Shelter last fall, attracting more than 20 people in need of eye exams. Unite for Sight Chairman Akshay Sanan said members plan to hold another test at the end of the month, which will allow for early eye disease detection.
“Residents rotate around [screenings] from the BU Medical Center,” the CAS freshman said. “If a resident detects some disease in the eye, there is a national group of physicians who will provide free health care to these patients.”
Sight Vision Screening Vice President Didi Pathak said vision screenings allow group members the opportunity for firsthand experience in eyesight healthcare.
“This is the kind of experience you don’t get from a classroom,” the CAS freshman said.
Pathak she and several members want to go abroad to gain hands-on experience with eye surgeries.
According to the Unite for Sight website, the organization’s goal is to ensure individuals around the world are educated about eye care.
“Volunteer Teams work with partner eye clinics in developing countries to provide eye care and eye health education programs,” the website states. “Additionally, vision screening and education programs are implemented worldwide by volunteers working in 90 chapters established at universities in North America, Africa, Asia and Latin America.”