Blind Sight, Pure Hearts

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to play dress up for a few hours with my friend for Pure Hearts Boutique. Started by four sisters, Pure Hearts picks a new non-profit to highlight and support each month by donating 10% of it’s monthly sales to that organization.

Not only was it so much fun to parade around in all of their new spring items, but when I mentioned a personal connection with Foundation for Fighting Blindness (FFB), Pure Heats agreed to sponsor them for the month of May.

Here’s a little part of my family’s story, and why I’ve been trying to get more involved with the FFB:

Both my Dad and my Aunt are Blind. I’ve only ever known my dad to be blind, but this hasn’t always been the case. My dad was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa when he was 33- I was about three years old. Fifteen years after my Dad’s diagnosis we found out my aunt also has the disease.

Just a little background: Retinitis Pigmentosa is when the retina in the back of the eye start to die, no longer sending signals to the brain on what the eye is seeing. It’s a degenerative disease, and in all forms of RP, vision loss usually progresses over a period of many years.

Since their diagnosis my family has become more involved with the Foundation for Fighting Blindness. The Foundation is the biggest contributor to research that will provide preventions, treatments and cures for people affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP), macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, and the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases.

In past few years I’ve watched my aunts involvement with the organization increase, and so has her passion and friendships within the blind community, and it’s inspired me to do the same. It’s something that affects more people than you realize, but with the right funding and research there’s incredible potential to change people’s lives.

As they like to say “A cure is in sight.”