Happy Lunar Chinese New year for 2025! The Fred Hollows Foundation will be offering you a special edition of Freddy Bear Red Packet! Simply donate a specified amount to receive this designated quantity of red packets, to thank you and bless your family and friends while contributing to our sight-restoring work globally! Could this be your most meaningful Lunar New Year Red Packet yet?
You will receive a different number of red packets based on the donation amount:
- Donate HKD150 = 1 set of 10 red packets
- Donate HKD500 = 4 sets of 40 red packets
- Donate HKD800 = 8 sets of 80 red packets
Reminder: The Lunar Chinese New Year in 2025 will be a bit earlier than usual. To ensure timely delivery of the red packets, we kindly request that the donations be completed by 24 January, 2025. Donations made on or after 24 January can still receive the red packet promptly, but delivery times may vary.
Your support is of great significance!
Freddy Bear shares with you different ways you can support, the fight against blindness!
- With a donation of HKD150, you can provide one cataract surgery for a patient, enabling them to see again!
- A donation of HKD500 can support the training of two local ophthalmologists for 12 months. Each doctor will be able to perform 1,000 eye surgeries per year and establish their own medical team!
- By donating HKD800, you can sponsor cataract surgery for two patients and train two ophthalmologists. Your contribution holds immense meaning!
If you wish to support more, you can become a monthly donor, allowing our journey to restore sight to go further and save more lives.
Save the kids
The Fred Hollows Foundation believes that every child has the right to see, yet unfortunately, three-quarters of blind children live in poverty. However, more than half of the diseases that cause blindness in children are preventable or treatable, so we must act now.
Ending avoidable blindness
The common eye diseases that affect children or cause vision loss often depend on the development status of a country. In developing countries, blindness is caused by a range of factors: corneal scarring from measles, Vitamin A deficiency, retinopathy of prematurity, trachoma and cataract. The Foundation concentrates on working with our partners to help prevent or treat vision loss in children that suffer from conditions such as:
Cataract
Cataract is a condition that is important to detect and treat early in childhood to minimise the impact of vision loss on their development. It’s a rare condition, but it can be treated successfully by a pediatric ophthalmologist – although the surgery is more complex than for adult cataract. Post-operative visual rehabilitation is an important component of care.
Trachoma
Trachoma is an infection often acquired in childhood, particularly in dusty, poverty-stricken areas, where water is scarce and sanitation poor. The WHO-approved SAFE strategy is a comprehensive approach to deal with trachoma through eyelid Surgery, Antibiotic distribution together with targeted activities to improve Facial cleanliness, and Environmental interventions to improve water supply and sanitation.
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) can happen when a baby is born very prematurely, meaning the retina and its blood vessels are not fully developed. These infants fight for their lives in a neonatal ICU, usually with supplementary oxygen. This helps the child to survive, but can seriously damage the developing blood vessels of the retina. Scarring in the retina, usually in both eyes, follows this damage and can cause blindness.
Childhoold Blindness
Many children's eye diseases, if not properly treated, can lead to permanent blindness. This is particularly challenging for developing countries, as many families generally lack basic eye care services. Studies indicate that one blind child is added globally every minute, urgently requiring our assistance.
Do you know about the relationship between snakes and restoring sight?
This year is the Year of the Snake, and Eye Care Action would like to share with everyone the relationship between snakes and medicine.
If you have ever noticed the logo on an ambulance, you will see a snake wrapped around a staff. This is called the Rod of Asclepius. The Greeks associated the annual shedding of skin by snakes with the ability to heal and recover. It has now become a symbol of emergency medical services, the "Star of Life", and is even incorporated into the logo of the World Health Organization.
(image source: Wiki)
The Fred Hollows Foundation is a leading international development organisation that has restored sight to more than 3 million people around the world. We have been tirelessly working to contribute towards preventable eye diseases worldwide. Even without a medical background, you can support Eye Care Action by donating to help visually impaired people regain their sight.
WHAT IMPACT CAN YOUR DONATION BRING?
Blindness and vision impairment is a health issue, and related to a person's well-being, quality of life and development opportunities. The Fred Hollows Foundation believes that a fly-in-fly-out model is not the best way to develop a place’s eye health care. Our vision is to build sustainable, good quality and affordable eye care in remote areas of the world.
Your donation will be used to:
- Train surgeons or eye health workers
- Provide medical equipment
- Organize eye screening camps in remote areas
- Raise awareness of eye health to the public
- Invest in innovation and research
