On Wednesday, March 26, the Gift of Vision Club hosted an ice cream fundraiser in the quad after sixth period to raise money for the Sankara Eye Foundation, a nonprofit group that provides free eye care in rural parts of India. The Sankara Eye Foundation performs full cataract surgeries for only $30 in an effort to cure blindness in India by 2020.

“Gift of Vision Club’s main objectives are to help eradicate curable blindness and spread awareness about vision care,” president junior Sruthi Jayakumar said. “As a high school club, our goal is to raise enough money for 10 eye surgeries ($300) by the end of this school year.”

The ice cream fundraiser is the Gift of Vision’s third attempt to meet their goal—the first being a bake sale in November and the second being the the Holiday Faire this past December. Despite the unexpected rainy weather, the club managed to raise $95.

“We decided to sell ice cream because we thought it would be really popular among the students,” Sruthi said. “It was a little unfortunate that it began raining at the time of the sale, but we still had a pretty good turnout.”

The club has now raised an overall total of $210 and looks to both achieve its $300 goal and get other students invested in the cause in years to come.

“We hope to continue raising money and helping to give the gift of vision to others who so desperately need it,” junior Meredith Soward said. “So far this year, we’ve raised funds for a total of seven eye surgeries, and we’d like to be able to double that number next year.”