COMMUNITY & CLUBS:

Newport Beach Dr. Richard Weiss has organized 40 physicians from around the country for a unique national fundraiser to be held on Friday, Nov. 16. All profits will be dedicated to curing blindness in Africa through the Eyes of Africa Initiative, part of the One World Sight Project.

The Eyes of Africa Initiative will take the growing trend of women and men getting treated with Botox in the United States and turn it into a philanthropic call to action to end blindness in Africa.

According to Weiss, cataracts are responsible for almost half of the 7 million blind Africans despite the availability of a simple $25 to $50 procedure that could permanently restore their sight in a matter of minutes.

The goal is to expand on the success of a 2005 pilot project during which 49 patients were treated in one day, raising funds that cured 132 people of blindness in Tanzania and Tibet.

The previous fundraiser was local to Southern California, but this year’s event will span the United States, with more than $175,000 raised so far from more than 40 physicians around the country. Weiss contributed $100,000 to the cause.

Allergan Medical, the maker of Botox, has again donated enough product to support the fundraising initiative, and the doctors are entirely donating their time. More than 1000 people around the country will help by having a minor cosmetic procedure.

Weiss, a member of the Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa, was inspired to create the One World Sight Project to combat curable blindness in the developing world by a song that he wrote about the plight of the blind in 1988. Soon after, Stevie Wonder’s participation as a nominal OWSP Special Advisor created unique consensus and excitement within the international ophthalmology community that led to the adoption of plans to eliminate curable blindness worldwide.

The current Eyes of Africa Initiative will support the completion of the first comprehensive training center for community ophthalmology in Africa, located in Moshi, Tanzania (near Mt. Kilimanjaro). In addition to sustainable development plans, there will be a relief component, with hundreds of live cataract surgery procedures being performed in Africa simultaneously with the fundraising. More information can be found at www.endblindness.org.

GOLF FOR THE FAMILIES OF MARINES DEPLOYED IN IRAQ

Restaurateur Dan Marcheano is looking for Daily Pilot readers to step up and register for a Nov. 12 golf tournament at the Newport Beach Country Club for the benefit of the families of 1st Battalion-1st Marines who are currently deployed in Iraq.

“We need to thank the families for their sacrifice their Marine is making on our behalf,” Marcheano said.

The entry fee of $1,600 per foursome includes green fee, cart, lunch, goodie bag, awards ceremony and dinner. Or send in a contribution to help the Marine families to Marcheano at 508 29th St., Newport Beach, CA 92663. For more tournament information, contact Marcheano at (949) 645-7077, Bob Cunningham at (949) 630-4307 or Dick Kurth at (949) 644-3124.

NEW RESEARCH FOUNDATION FORMED

The Jacqueline Sidman Health Foundation has been formed as a 501c3 nonprofit that will provide research to discover how the subconscious mind improves physical, emotional and behavioral health. The board of directors is headed by president Jacqueline Sidman. The director of research is Max D. Lechtman. The medical director is Elizabeth Lyster.

“The foundation research is on the cutting edge of work in the area of brain-body chemistry and will help humanity on many levels,” Sidman said. “We plan to perform human clinical studies under the supervision of licensed medical and psychological professionals, and there will be no animal studies. The research deals with the power of the human mind to enhance health in many areas, such as physical problems, anxiety-driven behaviors, reactive patterns and depression. The goal is to find laboratory evidence to help guide treatment methods related to non-drug regimens.”

For more information on the foundation, contact Sylvie Lawrence at (714) 772-2256.

WORTH REPEATING

From the Thought for the Day as provided by Greg Kelley of the Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council “An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don’t.”

COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published Sundays in the Daily Pilot. Send your service club’s meeting information by fax to (714) 921-8655 or by e-mail to jdeboom@ aol.com.