New Saving Sight Board Member, Jeff Schaeperkoetter
Jefferson City, Mo. (January 22, 2018) – Jeff W. Schaeperkoetter – a former Missouri Circuit Judge, Assistant Attorney General, Missouri State Representative, and Missouri State Senator – will join Saving Sight’s board of directors in the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Schaeperkoetter, who has also served his country as a U.S. Army and Missouri Army National Guard veteran, will join the board for his first three-year term as a community board member.
“Our board members provide crucial oversight to help us achieve our goals,” said Chief Executive Officer Tony Bavuso. “Schaeperkoetter’s years of experience will bring a fresh perspective to our organization’s strategy this year. Through his engagement and support, I’m sure we will be able to change more lives by saving sight.”
Schaeperkoetter and his wife have both been involved in volunteer service in the Jefferson City community, from working in the education program as volunteers at Jefferson City Correctional Center to their personal work with neighborhood cleanups. Schaeperkoetter attends Capital City Christian Church and also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Historic City of Jefferson Foundation.
“I am hopeful that all of my life experiences, both professionally and personally, will give me the ability to provide productive service to the Board and the organization,” said Schaeperkoetter. “This is a great opportunity to serve the public in an organization which has done so much for so many. I am looking forward to working with the other board members and the organization as it strives to do even more.”
Saving Sight’s Board of Directors actively participate in long-range planning and secure financial resources to support sight-saving programs such as eyeglass recycling and cornea donation and transplantation. As highly visible members of their communities, the board members also enhance Saving Sight’s public standing by sharing the mission, accomplishments, and goals with the general public, Lions clubs, and other partner organizations.
For more information, visit www.first-gift.org or contact Annie Kuhl, Chief Communication Officer, at 314-584-1710 or akuhl@saving-sight.org.
About Saving Sight
Saving Sight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to change lives by saving sight. Founded in 1960, Saving Sight has grown to become one of the nation’s leading eye banks and is focused on providing innovative solutions to its clinical partners. Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Saving Sight facilitates eye donation in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, impacting the lives of those both near and far through transplantation.
Kansas City, Mo. (January 8, 2018) – Today, non-profit organizations Saving Sight and Fight for Sight announced the joint funding of two new Summer Student Fellowships. The grants will be available to undergraduate, graduate or medical students conducting research relating to either the cornea or dry eye.
“Research and innovation within the field of ophthalmology are what drives our work forward as an eye bank,” said Tony Bavuso, CEO of Saving Sight. “We’re thrilled to partner with Fight for Sight to support students who are pursuing academic ocular research.”
The two grant awards will be $2,500 each with applications due to Fight for Sight on February 15, 2018. The announcement of awards is expected in May of 2018.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Saving Sight on two new Summer Student Fellowships,” said Arthur Makar, Fight for Sight’s Executive Director. “Together we will fund the next generation of leaders in corneal and dry eye research.”
About Saving Sight
Saving Sight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to change lives by saving sight. Founded in 1960, Saving Sight has grown to become one of the nation’s leading eye banks and is focused on providing innovative solutions to its clinical partners. Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Saving Sight facilitates eye donation in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, impacting the lives of those both near and far through transplantation.
About Fight for Sight
Since 1946, Fight for Sight (FFS) has supported and inspired eye and vision research by funding promising scientists early in their careers. FFS has granted over $21 million in research that has contributed directly or indirectly to major advances in ophthalmology and vision research, including the development of the IOL, aspects of donor cornea preservation, various use of ophthalmic lasers, glaucoma treatment and gene therapy.
Pam captured these beautiful winter scenes at her country home in Missouri as our 2017 featured holiday artist.
Pam captured these beautiful winter scenes at her country home in Missouri as our 2017 featured holiday artist.
Thanks to our staff, partners, volunteers and supporters of our work in eye donation, more corneal recipients like Pam are able to enjoy the twinkling holiday lights and watch the first snowfall of the season. And more donor families are able to find comfort in their loved one’s legacy living on through the gift of sight in 2017.
We wish you a bright holiday season and look forward to our continued work in the new year. Happy Holidays, from all of us at Saving Sight!
About the Artist
Thanks to the generosity of an eye donor, Pam was able to correct her vision through the gift of sight. “My vision kept getting dimmer and dimmer and glasses just didn’t fix it,” said Pam. “We realized through several tests that it was Fuch’s dystrophy.”
After her corneal transplant, Pam chose to write her donor family to thank them for their kindness. “Families have felt such a loss but they have helped other people,” said Pam. “I knew they had suffered a loss and just wanted them to know we appreciated the gift. It’s not just that the donor gave but the family accepted and followed through with their wishes.”
Today, Pam has regained her active lifestyle exploring the outdoors and gardening. She and her husband are avid birdwatchers and she is able to see the fine details in feathers and coloring she was missing before her transplant. Pam has regained her independence, driving with confidence again and seeing details when grocery shopping, watching television, reading menus in restaurants and even beading her holiday Christmas balls. More than anything, Pam is able to watch and keep up with her 6 active grandchildren and see the world as they see it now.
“As my vision becomes clearer and clearer, I realize that I had forgotten how bright and colorful our world is and I appreciate and love every second of it,” says Pam.
Pam captured these beautiful winter scenes at her country home in Missouri.
Columbia, Mo. (November 29, 2017) – Frederick Fraunfelder, MD, MBA, director of University of Missouri Health Care’s Mason Eye Institute and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the MU School of Medicine, will join Saving Sight’s board of directors in the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Fraunfelder, an ophthalmologist, will join the board for his first three-year term as a community board member.
“Our board members provide crucial oversight to help us achieve our goals,” said Chief Executive Officer Tony Bavuso. “Dr. Fraunfelder brings years of experience in corneal surgery and eye banking and will be a great asset to the board of directors. I’m sure we will be able to change more lives by saving sight through his engagement and support.”
Saving Sight’s Board of Directors actively participate in long-range planning and secure financial resources to support sight-saving programs such as eyeglass recycling and cornea donation and transplantation. As highly visible members of their communities, the board members also enhance Saving Sight’s public standing by sharing the mission, accomplishments, and goals with the general public, Lions clubs, and other partner organizations.
For more information, visit www.first-gift.org or contact Annie Kuhl, Chief Communication Officer, at 314.584.1710.
About Saving Sight
Saving Sight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to change lives by saving sight. Founded in 1960, Saving Sight has grown to become one of the nation’s leading eye banks and is focused on providing innovative solutions to its clinical partners. Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Saving Sight facilitates eye donation in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, impacting the lives of those both near and far through transplantation.
Our Saving Sight team is excited to be back at the annual European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) Congress October 7-11, 2017. We’d love the opportunity to connect with ophthalmologists, surgeons and other eye care professionals while there. Patrick Gore, Chief Business Development Officer at Saving Sight, will be at ESCRS and looks forward to hearing how Saving Sight can best suit your ocular needs in a simple and convenient way. Please reach out to Patrick Gore soon to coordinate a time to connect at the conference.
We look forward to an enriching conference in Lisbon!
For additional information: Patrick Gore, Chief Business Development Officer, 816.255.1337.
Kansas City, Mo. (July 25, 2017) – Construction is set to begin in August for Saving Sight’s Northland expansion into the former Equity Plaza office building at 10560 NW Ambassador Drive in Kansas City, Platte County. The acquisition of the majority of Equity Plaza building was completed in July and will give the non-profit ocular services provider 18,094 square feet of commercial office space.
Set for completion in late in 2018, the building renovation will feature an open floor plan and other features to enhance collaboration, as well a clean room lab environment for tissue processing. Firms involved in Saving Sight’s new headquarters project include Development Initiatives, Centric Projects, and Clockwork Architecture and Design.
Saving Sight employs 38 of its 87 staff members at its current Kansas City headquarters. As one of the nation’s leading providers of corneal tissue for transplantation, Saving Sight helped to restore sight to 2,950 individuals last year. While the organization has four additional satellite offices throughout Missouri and Illinois, most of its administrative business divisions and all laboratory processing occurs at the Kansas City home office.
Alicia Stephens, Executive Director of the Platte County Economic Development Council, said “We are pleased to share news of Saving Sight’s expansion in Platte County. The growth and redevelopment taking place along Ambassador Drive are a testament to Platte County’s pro-business environment and excellent location. We welcome Saving Sight to the neighborhood.”
About Saving Sight
Saving Sight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to change lives by saving sight. Founded in 1960, Saving Sight has grown to become one of the nation’s leading eye banks and is focused on providing innovative solutions to its clinical partners. Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Saving Sight facilitates eye donation in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, impacting the lives of those both near and far through transplantation.
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For additional information: Annie Kuhl, Chief Communications Officer, 314.584.1710
About Saving Sight
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