Fundraiser sheds light on need for eye surgery in Tibet.
Guests are led to their tables during a fundraiser at O.NOIR restaurant to benefit microsurgery eye centres in Tibet.
Photo/COURTESY
For several hours Wednesday, March 3, diners at O.NOIR restaurant downtown sat down for a three-course meal and a glass of wine in total darkness to help raise money for microsurgery eye centres in Tibet.
The fundraiser, organized by three Humber College students, including North York resident Robyn Landau, aimed to raise awareness about the vast number of visually impaired people in Tibet in need of cataract surgery.
The event, put together in two short weeks, raised money for Love in Action, a non-for profit organization focusing on creating sustainable solutions for international projects.
Landau, along with classmates Sarah State and Kaitlynn Dodge, formed a team called RealSightKeepers and came up with the idea of a fundraiser held in complete darkness to really give the experience of what it's like living without sight.
"I went to school in Montreal and O.NOIR is also there so I thought it would be the perfect place to have the fundraiser," Landau said. "It was a huge success. There was lots of laughter, some people were scared and anxious, but I was happy with the empathy that was created among people."
Diners walked into the dining area in single file, with their left hand on the left shoulder of the person in front of them, Landau said.
Menu options were decided on before entering the dining room, she said, adding blind wait staff served the food.
The team managed to raise $1,900 and hopes to add several hundred dollars to the amount over the next week through online donations at www.realsightkeepers.com, Landau said, adding all donations must be handed over to Love in Action on Friday, March 12.
According to Cataract Canada, in most cases the only effect of a cataract is a gradual blurring of vision that prompts patients to seek out their optometrist or ophthalmologist. In rare cases, the development of a cataract can have complications that threaten the health of the eye.
If the cataract swells it can cause a blockage of the natural flow of fluid in the eye. This blockage leads to elevated pressure within the eye and can result in glaucoma, which threatens sight.
Overly mature cataracts may become white as the lens turns to liquid. Rarely, this liquid lens may leak from the lens and cause inflammation and pressure.
"It was up to us how we wanted to fundraise and we wanted to give people the experience of what it's like to not have sight," Landau said.
"Coming out of the restaurant, they were given the gift of sight, and that's the gift we are giving the people in Tibet. The message we were trying to get across is people can facilitate change and this is just one example. People can become the change they want to see."