Five Reasons You Can Be Proud to Support Orbis

1. You Can Change a Life

Rabi’s teacher noticed that he would often cry when asked to read or write at school, and she was worried he would fall behind. He eventually admitted that he could only see things up close, and his impaired vision made him feel scared and embarrassed.

Thanks to Orbis supporters, Rabi got a vision screening and was diagnosed with high myopia, or near-sightedness. A simple pair of eyeglasses that cost mere dollars—which Orbis provided free of charge thanks to generous people like you—corrected Rabi’s sight.

Read more about our Vision Van and Green Vision Centers.

2. Your Gift Can Keep a Family Happy and Healthy

Shemsedin is a proud dad of a little 11-month-old girl, Hamdia. Shemsedin and his family live in a rural district in southern Ethiopia, where he provides for his family working as a farmer.

Shemsedin also takes care of Hamdia by making sure she receives yearly doses of antibiotics to combat  trachoma, the leading cause of infectious blindness in their home country.

He learned about the importance of that annual regimen through Orbis-supported public education programs. These campaigns and Orbis’s annual mass drug administration project—in which we give millions of doses of trachoma-preventing medicine to children and adults—have helped virtually eliminate the painful, blinding condition in 24 districts throughout southern Ethiopia.

3. You believe all children deserve healthy eyesight, no matter where they live.

We bring people together in the fight against avoidable blindness. You can give children the gift of sight.

Thanks to your support, our eye care teams are working with local health partners globally to save babies and infants from a lifetime of blindness from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) as millions of babies are born prematurely around the world and are at risk.

With the right awareness, knowledge, and equipment, ROP is entirely preventable. It can cost less than $5 to examine a premature infant for ROP – and less than $250 to provide sight-saving treatment to a newborn in need.

And your support helps children born with childhood cataracts like Pinki. These children face many barriers. Poverty, a lack of healthcare resources, and a lack of knowledge can all prevent them from receiving the care and support they need.

Sadly, it means a very large number of children go permanently blind from avoidable causes. Cataract is one of the world’s leading causes of blindness. It is a devastating condition that gets worse with time and, if it goes untreated, its blinding effects can be irreversible.

4. You'll Be in Good Company

We never get tired of celebrating our supporters and those we train, because we know how special they are. You're the most caring, generous people around! You share our vision of a world free from avoidable blindness and are doing what you can to help make that vision a reality.

One of those supporters is Kathy Ilyin. When asked why supporting the fight against avoidable blindness is so important to her, she said: “With my own eyes I saw people – children especially – brought from dark blindness into a world of light and color. Finally, they could see their dear ones’ faces.”

Since first logging on in 2003, Dr. Chuluunbat in Mongolia has utilized our Cybersight platform to accelerate her pediatric eye health skills and knowledge to serve her community. “Orbis has opened my eyes in how we could learn and how we could collaborate, and how we can improve the patients’ eye health, and how we could together achieve a better outcome.”

We’re proud that wonderful people have chosen to support our sight-saving work and change the lives of people around the world.

 5. Top Ratings Set Us Apart and Every Dollar Fights Blindness

Orbis has received 14 straight 4-star ratings from Charity Navigator. Only 3 percent of the organizations that Charity Navigator evaluates have received at least ten consecutive 4-star evaluations, setting Orbis apart from most other charities in America. Orbis has also received the Guidestar Platinum Seal of Transparency—Guidestar’s highest level of recognition.

We’re proud to have earned these incredible acknowledgments, and we know that it puts our supporters at ease. When

you give to Orbis, you can trust that your donation will make a difference—we can guarantee it.

“I know that my money will go where it’s supposed to go – to programs that will end avoidable blindness. It makes me feel good.” – Hal Biestek, volunteer pilot and member of the Orbis Visionary Club.

We work hard to ensure your generous contributions are being used as effectively and efficiently as possible to deliver high quality eye care and build a lasting eye care legacy in the communities that need it most. In fact, we’re proud to share that 92 cents of every dollar donated by supporters goes directly to our sight-saving work around the globe.

Whatever your reason for giving, we do hope you’ll take a moment to make a gift. We promise to put it to the best possible use, bringing the gift of sight around the world and changing lives for the better. 

Questions about giving?

For more information or to talk with a representative about our programs and ways to give, please contact us at [email protected] or call 1-800-ORBIS-US (1-800-672-4787).

Checks can be sent by mail

Mail to: Gift Processing Center PO Box 510 Etna, NH 03750-9901

Financial accountability

We are committed to financial transparency.