MINNEAPOLIS – (May 19, 2014) – Phillips Eye Institute Foundation is pleased to announce its first ever gift of $1,000,000 from the Bentson Foundation. The donation will help fund the expansion of the Phillip’s Eye Institute’s Early Youth Eyecare (E.Y.E.) Community Initiative to Saint Paul Public Schools.
“The trustees of the Bentson Foundation are happy to support the E.Y.E. Initiative and commend Phillips Eye Institute for its commitment to both the children in Minneapolis and St. Paul,” said Judi Dutcher, executive director, Bentson Foundation.
The Phillips Eye Institute E.Y.E. program helps address the academic achievement gap by ensuring that all students, regardless of background or ability to pay, have one of the most basic tools to learn – healthy vision.
For the past six years, the Phillips Eye Institute’s E.Y.E program has provided regular free vision screening and subsequent treatment services to Minneapolis school children in kindergarten, first, third, fifth and sixth grades. Thanks to the $10 million fundraising campaign, “Investing in Sight, Changing Lives,” the E.Y.E. program is expanding to St. Paul.
The Otto Bremer Foundation, who helped launch the Minneapolis E.Y.E. initiative in 2008, has given $300,000 to the St. Paul campaign. And, the Richard M Schulze Family Foundation recently contributed $50,000.
Phillips Eye Institute Foundation
Phillips Eye Institute, part of Allina Health, is the third largest eye specialty hospital (in patient volume) in the United States. Dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and disorders, Phillips Eye Institute’s 70 ophthalmologists offer an extensive array of specialty services from diagnostic tests to laser eye treatments and specialized eye surgery. The Foundation’s support enables Phillips Eye Institute to continue to play a vital role in improving the eye health of its surrounding community through the Early Youth Eyecare (EYE) Community Initiative, the Kirby Puckett Education Center, the Irving and Janet Shapiro Innovative Technology Fund, and supporting Transportation Services.