Supporter Stories

“The hardest thing about vision impairment has been losing my independence,” Anne Vannice told John Corneille, Director of Gift Planning for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. “I wish I could just get in the car to go see my three grandchildren, especially since they’re close by. But, overall, I’m really lucky to have wonderful friends and family to help. And, until four or five years ago, there were no treatments for my disease. Now there are some options, but my doctor is still very cautious.”

Anne was worried that a disease like hers might someday affect someone in her family, so she has supported the Foundation for the past 20 years. Four years ago, she decided to step up her contribution by leaving a gift in her will so that a percentage of her estate will go to the Foundation.

“I decided to include the Foundation in my estate plans,” Anne explained, “so that if the time ever comes when my grandchildren, or anyone else’s, experience vision loss, the scientists will have figured out how to help them.”

“ Blindness has always been a part of my family’s life. When I was a young child, I never knew that my grandmother was completely blind, Marie shared. “All her daughters just stepped in, took care of her and helped her continue cooking for family meals. Generations of O’Learys have found creative ways to work around our blindness.”

Marie continues “When I started losing my vision too, I understood. I could see fine during the daylight so I never told people. I was even able to learn to drive. But I couldn’t see at night, so I declined a lot of invitations and missed a lot of social gatherings as a teenager and young adult. That’s just how it was. You didn’t tell people about your blindness. You just found your way around it.”

Marie wanted more than that for the next generation of her family, and that’s why she made the incredibly generous decision to include the Foundation Fighting Blindness as a beneficiary in her will.
Marie says “Don’t get me wrong . . . I don’t have a lot of money. But whatever I have, it feels good knowing that a portion of my estate will go to ending blindness. I’m convinced that the Foundation Fighting Blindness is the best place to put all of my hopes and dreams for my family. They are the largest private funder of blindness research in the world. That’s important because without funding for research there will be no cure.

If someone like me, a woman with Retinitis Pigmentosa and a part-time job can do it, you can too! And trust me, it feels really, really good to know that part of your life’s work will contribute to something meaningful for future generations.”