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Contact:
Nicole Brown, LCIF Communications Manager
Phone: 630-468-6887
E-mail: Nicole.Brown@lionsclubs.org

For Immediate Release

Campaign SightFirst II Receives US$4 Million Gift, Largest in LCIF History

Oak Brook, IL, USA, March 6, 2008 — Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) has received the largest donation in its 40-year history, a US$4 million donation from Moorfields Eye Hospital Foundation Trust.
 
Moorfields is a United Kingdom-based international center for the treatment of eye disease and a leader in vision-care research and training. Its donation in support of LCIF’s initiative, Campaign SightFirst II, will help to control and eliminate preventable blindness worldwide. The funds will directly support the construction and establishment of a new facility for the Korle Bu Eye Hospital in Accra, Ghana.

“This is a landmark donation for LCIF and our SightFirst program,” says Jimmy Ross, past international president and LCIF chairperson. “The funds donated to CSFII will allow Lions to provide SightFirst eye-care services to a critically under-served population. We are very grateful for this partnership from an institution that shares Lions’ mission to save and protect sight.”

Controlling and eliminating preventable blindness has been LCIF’s top priority since the SightFirst program was first established in 1990. Lions’ SightFirst program has led the fight against preventable blindness and prevented a catastrophic increase in preventable blindness.

Since 1990, Lions’ SightFirst program has provided funding to save the sight of more than 27 million people and improved eye care for hundreds of millions of people. To date, LCIF’s SightFirst program has awarded more than US$211 million for projects in 90 countries.

“With more than US$150 million already raised, this donation comes at a pivotal point in reaching our challenge goal of US$200 million,” says Dr. Tae-Sup Lee, Lions Clubs International past president and CSFII chairperson. “Lions need the rest of the world to follow Moorfields’ lead in supporting Lions’ CSFII effort to eliminate unnecessary blindness, which can so often and easily be prevented before it robs anyone else.”

Lions Clubs International Foundation is the charitable arm of Lions Clubs International, the largest service club organization in the world with nearly 1.3 million members in 202 geographic areas and countries. LCIF was ranked by a Financial Times’ study as the number one non-governmental organization with which to partner. Established in 1968, LCIF has been involved with blindness prevention and treatment for more than 15 years through the SightFirst program. For more information, visit www.lcif.org.