Commitment to Action

Recipient of 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Award

At a recent Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting at the University of Texas-Austin, Former President Clinton had this to say about KCFEC's efforts:

Former U.S. Health Secretary, Donna Shalala congratulates Andrew Grin at the CGI Annual Meeting

"One of the things people are most worried about in this economic downturn is that they will be no longer be able to afford the co-pays and deductibles for basic care…. and although there will be more funds in this stimulus bill to promote things like public health clinics, eye care is generally totally left out. This is something they are doing-low cost, high impact, that can be replicated in every single community in the United States... You can do this where you live."

Kansas City Free Eye Clinic was one of only eight commitments, chosen from a pool of several thousand submissions internationally, to be discussed on-stage by the former president at his annual meeting. KCFEC also became the recipient of The CGI Outstanding Commitment Award with a $10,000 grant sponsored by the Pat Tillman Foundation.

Since that time, KCFEC has been approached by various service groups around the country, and in Europe to help establish free eye clinics in their locales. KCFEC is currently working closely with several pilot organizations to begin offering vision services in different cities. The hope is to eventually build a national network of free eye clinics to begin tackling the challenges of vision care.