The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois (CFNIL) with support from the Dr. Louis and Violet Rubin Fund, has renewed its support with a $7,000 grant to Eversight to support clinical operations, allowing even more Northern Illinois cornea donors to give the gift of sight and residents to receive sight-saving cornea transplants.
In 2024, more than 2,600 Illinois donors and their families gave the gift of sight for transplantation, research and education. In the same year, over 1,300 tissues were provided for sight-saving cornea transplants, and over 1,400 tissues were recovered for research and education in Illinois.
"We are deeply grateful to the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois and the Dr. Louis and Violet Rubin Fund for their continued support,” said Lora Cabarios, Vice President of Philanthropy, Eversight. “We can connect even more generous cornea donors with people awaiting sight-restoring transplants. This partnership not only honors the wishes of donors and their families but also strengthens our shared mission of transforming lives."
The mission of the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois is to inspire endowment and promote philanthropy for the current and future needs of the people of Northern Illinois. Since its founding in 1953, CFNIL has granted more than $140 million for charitable purposes. Learn more about CFNIL’s history, grantmaking and commitment to endowment at www.cfnil.org.
“The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois is proud to continue our support of Eversight and its life-changing work,” said James Patterson, President of the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois. “Through the generosity of the Dr. Louis and Violet Rubin Fund and our donors, we are honored to help expand access to sight-saving cornea transplants for individuals and families in Northern Illinois. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to improving health outcomes, honoring the generosity of donors, and strengthening our communities now and for the future.”
Eversight is honored to receive support from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois for the third year. Earlier in 2025, CFNIL awarded Eversight a $6,625 grant that has allowed Eversight to work with 13 Northern Illinois cornea donors and their families, providing the gift of sight to 26 people. Their ongoing investment has helped enable 23 Northern Illinois residents to give the gift of sight. To help continue this impact, you can make a gift at eversightvision.org/give.
About Eversight
Eversight is a nonprofit organization with a mission to restore sight and prevent blindness through the healing power of donation, transplantation and research. The Eversight network is responsible for recovering, evaluating and providing human eye tissue for transplantation; supporting research into the causes and cures of blinding eye conditions; promoting donation awareness through public and professional education; and providing humanitarian aid to people around the world in need of corneal transplantation. Operating in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and South Korea, Eversight works in collaboration with surgeons, researchers, academic medical centers and eye banks across the United States and abroad. For more information, visit eversightvision.org.
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