VANCOUVER, BC — May 24, 2012 — The third annual ORBIS Pull for Sight event is scheduled on Sunday, May 27th at 11:00 a.m. at the
Vancouver
International
Airport, FedEx Apron located at
3151 Aylmer Road in
Richmond. Additional challenges are scheduled in
Toronto and
Calgary later this summer.
At the ORBIS Pull for Sight event teams made up of 25 people compete to pull a 60-tonne 757 FedEx cargo airplane 12 feet for the “Fastest Pull” title.
The event is open to companies, organizations, groups, associations and individual participants age 14 and up. Teams must register for the event at www.ORBISCanada.ca or via email at infocanada@orbis.org. Each registered team must raise a minimum $1,250.00 (or $50.00 per person) to compete in this event. There is no admission fee and limited free parking is available. Guests are encouraged to use public transportation. All funds raised from this event support the ORBIS Kids Sight Program aimed at eliminating childhood blindness throughout the developing world. A tax receipt will be issued for donations $10.00 and over.
“This is a fun-filled day for family, friends, and co-workers to come out and earn bragging rights associated with pulling the plane,” said
Brian Klinzing, Interim Director of Development, ORBIS Canada. “We will also have various other activities for children, and, for the airplane enthusiasts, our host FedEx is offering tours of their cargo aircraft.”
Event prizes will be awarded for the “Fastest Pull”, “Top Individual Fundraiser,” “Top Team Fundraisers,” and “Most Enthusiastic Team.”
“One of the greatest pleasures for me is seeing a child’s face when they first regain eyesight. None of this would be possible without the support from generous individual and corporate donors like those here in
British Columbia,” said Dr. Francis Law, a Vancouver-area ophthalmologist who has participated in ORBIS missions to China, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic.
In the world today there are approximately 19 million visually impaired children and too often, vision problems prevent kids from excelling in school, playing sports or taking part in other activities that their sighted peers take for granted. The vast majority of visually impaired children live in developing countries, where pediatric eye care services are often unavailable or unaffordable. As a result, many of these children go blind even though they suffer from treatable or preventable conditions.
In response to the World Health Organization’s urgent call for an increase in specialized children’s eye care centres, ORBIS has committed to establishing a network of such facilities throughout the developing world. ORBIS has already established or strengthened more than 45 children’s eye care centres in
Bangladesh,
Bulgaria,
China,
Costa Rica,
Ethiopia,
Jamaica,
India,
Nepal,
Pakistan and
Peru.
Through direct ORBIS support over the last decade alone, more than four million children have received medical or refractive error treatments, while 170,000 have received sight-improving surgeries. The impact for these children, their families and communities is profound, especially when sight restoration allows for full integration into social and economic activities.
“For 30 years, FedEx has been dedicated to supporting ORBIS in their mission to eliminate preventable blindness across the globe,” said Lisa Lisson, president of FedEx Express Canada. “We are proud of our role in helping deliver the gift of sight to thousands of men, women and children around the world each year.”
ORBIS benefits from the unparalleled FedEx global network and aviation expertise to help the
Flying
Eye
Hospital take flight. FedEx Express pilots volunteer to fly the ORBIS DC-10 to its medical programs, FedEx Express mechanics provide maintenance support, and FedEx Express team members around the world volunteer as part of the ORBIS humanitarian team as interpreters, welcoming and escorting patients to and from their surgeries, and assisting with patient screenings. FedEx also provides complimentary transportation services to move critically needed medical supplies to ORBIS clinics and programs worldwide and manages the cost and performance of the annual safety checks for the
Flying
Eye
Hospital.
“As part of this sponsorship, the FedEx Fellow Programs allows local doctors to receive ongoing medical education to help address the leading causes of avoidable blindness within their respective countries,” said Dr.
Simon Holland, a clinical professor at the University of British Columbia, ORBIS Canada Director and ORBIS Volunteer Faculty Member.
ABOUT ORBIS
CANADA
ORBIS Canada is part of a global nonprofit, humanitarian organization dedicated to saving sight worldwide. ORBIS prevents and treats blindness through hands-on training, public health education, improved access to quality eye care, and partnerships with local health care organizations in an effort to eliminate avoidable blindness. By building their long-term capabilities, ORBIS helps its partner institutions take action to reach a state where they can provide, on their own, quality eye care services that are affordable, accessible, and sustainable. To learn more about ORBIS Canada, please visit www.ORBISCanada.ca.
