For 44 years, Santa Barbara-based Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE) International has been providing restorative eyesight care around the globe. The non-profit organization, founded by local ophthalmologists in 1974, relies on volunteers, grants and donors to make its important work of reducing preventable blindness possible. And as it heads toward 50 years, SEE is endeavoring to treat more patients than ever before. “There are 36 million people in the world who are blind, up to 75 percent of those are blind from preventable conditions,” said Matt Wheeler, vice president of communications for SEE. “One of the major problems is that 80 percent of these people are living in areas of the world where access to care is not available.” Cataracts, one of the leading causes of blindness, can often easily be treated – but patients must have access to qualified ophthalmologists who can perform a simple surgery. Partnering with local ophthalmologists in every region where they work, SEE volunteers made 250 trips to over 40 countries this year, and performed 40,000 sight restoring surgeries. Volunteer doctors pay for all of their own travel and housing expenses and receive no pay for their work. By 2020, SEE aims to perform 100,000 surgeries a year. In the course of the organization’s existence, volunteers have conducted 4 million eye exams and performed a half million surgeries. Other work includes training regional doctors on cataract surgery techniques, providing supplies for clinics that don’t have access to proper materials, and conducting preventative eye exams in impoverished areas. In assessing the support it has received from corporate sponsors over the years, SEE staff realized that one Santa Barbara-based company was unique in terms of longevity and generosity of support – and happened to be a close neighbor, too. “Our leadership was...

Eyesight: it enables us to take in the world around us, navigate our daily lives with ease, and appreciate beauty. If your eyesight was taken from you tomorrow, would you be able to continue to function in your daily life? One of many non-profits that receive corporate philanthropic support from Yardi Systems, Inc. is Surgical Eye Expeditions International, (SEE) a Santa Barbara, Calif. based global organization that sends doctors to assist those in need of eye surgeries around the world. Since 1974, SEE’s eye surgeons have examined more than 3.2 million patients and performed over 400,000 sight-restoring operations. SEE International’s volunteer eye surgeons donate their time and pay for all their own travel expenses. During each clinic (approximately five days long), sight is typically restored to 50 to 200 people. “SEE has been thrilled with Yardi’s responsiveness and willingness to support our mission of restoring vision around the world,” said Rachel Johnston, Grants Coordinator for SEE International. To date, the company’s donations have aided more than 300 vision restoration patients in India. The patients who benefit from SEE’s clinics are adults and children.  Nearly all live in developing countries, and 48% are blind because of cataracts. Thanks to SEE, they are often able to achieve vision restoration – 80% of the cases are avoidable or treatable. SEE also works in its home community of Santa Barbara. The Santa Barbara Vision Care Program was created to fill the need in Santa Barbara County for those who cannot afford vision care and have no medical insurance. Over 51,000 patients have received free eye screening in this local program. Yardi Systems encourages you to make a donation to the non-profit of your choice this year....