Spring Donor Appreciation Event

On March 24th, we hosted a donor appreciation luncheon at The Grand Del Mar to recognize and thank our local donors for all their support over the last 24 years. Jeremy Poincenot, VOC’s new Vision Hero Ambassador, shared his journey from being fully-sighted to being diagnosed with a rare genetic disease for which there is no treatment and no cure, and which led to the loss of his central vision.  Read Jeremy’s story here.

Another highlight of the event was a report from Gregory Ostrow, MD, Director of Pediatric Ophthalmology at Scripps, San Diego, and VOC Board member. Dr. Ostrow shared that he has had to deliver the same disappointing news to many patients in his years of practice.  “It’s very painful to tell a parent that their child is losing his or her eye sight and at this time we do not have a cure or treatment,” said Ostrow.  “But all that is changing with new developments in medicine and gene therapy, some spurred by recent VOC contributions.” Ostrow is optimistic that there will be several treatments for genetic eye disorders in the near future.

“The Vision of Children Foundation is funding cutting edge research that is expected to cure certain types of genetic eye disease and blindness within our lifetime,” said Vivian Hardage, VOC co-founder and Board member.    “We are able to do this thanks to the generosity from the donors in our community.  We are very grateful to them and are happy that we could share Jeremy’s remarkable journey,” she said.