A Lifetime Legacy to Fight Blindness:
Estate of Olga Variolo
The late Mrs. Olga Variolo is a founding member of FFB’s Visionary’s Circle. She included FFB in her will because she wanted to leave a meaningful gift to vision research so that others, especially children, wouldn’t face losing their sight. Mrs. Variolo asked her lawyer, one of FFB’s board of directors, Lawrence Cohen, a lot of questions before making her decision. She learned that FFB has low administration costs, and an efficient record in its use of donations.
Mr. Cohen remarked that, “Mrs. Variolo could not think of a more touching farewell gift than to make a profound difference to the fight against blindness, and she knew that her gift would be transformational to a charity like FFB.”
The Estate of Olga Variolo has been designated to fund research conducted by Rod Bremner, PhD , Head, Division of Genetics & Development, Toronto Western Research Institute (TWRI) and Senior Scientist, Division of Genetics & Development, University of Toronto. Dr. Bremner is FFB’s highest ranked scientist in the Toronto area. Dr. Bremner’s primary research objective is to provide a clearer picture of what is needed to protect photoreceptors from dying off. This new knowledge may suggest critical aspects in developing therapies to protect vision in humans with blinding retinal diseases. His discoveries will help verify the pathway to develop of new therapies to restore vision.
Giving a bequest entitles people to join FFB’s Visionary’s Circle of planned giving donors.
Becoming a member of FFB’s Visionary’s Circle is as simple as calling or notifying us that you have included the Foundation Fighting Blindness in your will. For more information on planned giving, please visit You Can Help!
Racing to find Cures for Blindnes
Team Run for Sight: (left to right) Mike Ovens, team captain, Mike Colle, MPP, Eric Mann, Elizabeth Hurdman. Not pictured: Eric Hughes, Ron Kruger, Graham Gerrell, Renee Farrell, Clinton Gaudry, Philip Williams
September 28, 2008 - On Sunday, September 28, Team Run for Sight participated in the annual Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon raising $8,000 in support of the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
Nearly a dozen Team Run for Sight members proudly wore the Foundation Fighting Blindness name on their marathon bib to help raise awareness of the cause, to find treatments and cures for retinal diseases that cause blindness.
One team member went the extra mile by running the marathon blindfolded. Mike Ovens, an avid runner who has retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative eye disease said it was a great experience.
"Of course, running 21.1 km blindfolded was a challenge and it was difficult to remain calm," says Ovens. "I couldn't tell how many runners were around me (1 or 100) and occasionally got a little concerned when my elbow nudged other runners.
But I had several fellow runners come up next to us and comment on how what we were doing was awesome."
Running with Ovens were teammates: Liberal MP Mike Colle, Renee Farrell, Clinton Gaudry, Graham Gerrell, Eric Hughes, Elizabeth Hurdman, Ron Krueger, Eric Mann, and Phillip Williams.
Mike Colle, who took a 24 year lapse from marathon running was back to show his support for the cause. “My previous best time was 3:29. This time I'm hoping I can make it to the finish line standing up,” said Colle prior to the marathon. The good news is that the sixty-three year old demonstrated steely determination and finished standing-up!
To learn more about the members of Team Run for Sight, you can still visit: www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com. They are still accepting donations on behalf of the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
Congratulations to Team Run For Sight! Thank you for helping us get closer to cures for blindness.
FFB Honored by Rebekah Assembly's Fundraising Efforts
May 6, 2008 - On May 5th, 2008, Sharon Colle, National Executive Director of The Foundation Fighting Blindness was in London, ON to accept a cheque for $15,657 from the Rebekah Assembly. Each year, the President of the Rebekah Lodge designates her preferred charity. This year's President, Dorothy Lawrence named the Foundation Fighting Blindness. The group continues to fundraise for the Foundation and additional donations are anticipated.In accepting this most generous donation, Ms. Colle noted, "The watch-words of the Rebekah Lodge are Friendship, Love and Truth, values shared by the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Today, I have observed a community based in friendship and love that is bound by integrity. We are honored to be this year's recipient."
Why the Rebekah Assembly support FFB
September 26, 2007 - Having family and friends who are affected by eye diseases is a big reason why Dorothy Lawrence wants to help fund vision research. Her father suffered from Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Glaucoma and Cataracts.
"Towards the end, my father was unable to recognize the faces of his only two grandsons," said Dorothy. "He could only tell that they were young people from listening to their actions and voices, rather than what he could see."
Dorothy learned of The FFB through a family member because two of her cousins are affected by retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that strikes during childhood, for which there is no cure.
Since then, Dorothy has familiarized herself with The Foundation and the vital role it plays in funding research and giving hope to people affected by blindness and their families and friends.
"Eye disease affects the psychological well being of a patient," said Dorothy. "It takes away their independence. Often the patient is unable to live alone and the "sandwich' generation is looking after their own children as well as doing elder care."
As current president of the Rebekah Assembly, Dorothy has rallied the group to fundraise for The FFB, the largest non-government contributor to vision research in Canada. The group’s goal is to raise money by holding grass-roots fundraising events. For example, recently, the group sold out a day tour to Stratford for dinner and a theatre production – the day raised more than $500.
"It is my wish to be able to make a significant donation to The FFB to assist the doctors in continuing their research to find preventions and cures for eye diseases that cause blindness," said Dorothy.
The mandate of the Rebekah Assembly is to relieve the distressed and sick, assist those mourning the loss of a loved one and educate youth through loans and scholarships from their Educational Foundation.
Marathon Man Sets His Sight on Cure for Blindness
September 9, 2007 - At the age of 10, Michael Ovens was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, an incurable eye disease that strikes during childhood. While other children stayed out late playing hide-and-seek, Michael would come home early because he kept running into things. Twenty-years later, the avid runner, who is legally blind, is taking on five marathons in eight months. His mission: to raise money for eye research to find treatments and cures for the more than one million Canadians affected by blindness.This weekend, the Toronto native will participate in his second marathon this year, the Montreal Marathon on Sunday, September 9th. His goal is to raise $1,000 for each marathon, raising a total of $5,000. The money will go to The Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) which funds eye research at Canadian hospitals and universities. Recently, The FFB funded research at McGill University that yielded two major breakthroughs in the fight against childhood blindness.
Michael"s approach to fundraising was inspired by his approach for long-distance running. The psychological strategy for running is to break the distance down into manageable incremental distance. With that in mind, Mike believed raising $1,000 for the Boston Marathon was achievable and stretched that factor by five.
Having completed the Boston Marathon already, Mike signed up for four more including: He signed up for four more marathons, Mississauga (May 13), Montreal (Sept 9), the Toronto Waterfront (Sept 30) and Niagara Falls (October 31). He is being assisted by the Achilles Track Club of Canada, a not-for-profit group that assists athletes with disabilities to train, participate and compete in running events. With the assistance of running guides, Michael is able to safely run long-distance marathons despite any potential hazards but it is a struggle.
"Being 6'3 with retinitis pigmentosa (tunnel vision), there is lots below and outside of my field of vision to worry about," says Michael. "Thankfully, we developed guiding techniques that safely steer me around obstacles."
"My guides also verbalize our surroundings so I have an idea of how far we have left to run. However, in a marathon, I have to say that sometimes with kilometer markers, ignorance can be bliss."
His experience in Boston was a memorable one, and has encouraged Mike to continue on his path. Already at $3,050 Mike is confident that the $5,000 goal will be attained this year. As Mike puts it, “There is an expectation of runners to be a force for good. I always get asked: What cause are you supporting this time? I don’t believe athletes in other sports ever get that question. I suppose Terry Fox left some enormous shoes for all of us to fill."