Welcome
Join us at the 3rd Annual Night for Sight Gala Fundraiser!
Support and connect with us during an evening of fundraising for our sight-saving programs with a silent auction, music, cocktails, and dinner.
Last year, through the generosity and support of patrons, sponsors, and donors, the funds raised helped us vision screen 11,150 children and provide 22 adult vision clinics.
We will be highlighting our Honorary Gala Chair, Mariela Romero.
Mariela Romero is the Regional Community Empowerment Director in Philadelphia, Raleigh and Atlanta and implements the corporate responsibility platforms of Univision Communications under the “Contigo” property. She also develops content for special programs as an anchor and producer of news magazine Conexión Fin de Semana in all three markets. Mariela’s distinction and recognition in the Atlanta community are indisputable, as is her unwavering commitment to journalistic excellence, Mariela has received 21 Emmy Awards from the Academy of Television Arts – South East region – among other accolades, and holds a degree in Journalism from Universidad Católica Argentina as well as a degree in Social Communications from Universidad de Belgrano. She also studied TV Broadcasting and Production at Buenos Aires’s Centro de Estudios de la Comunicación. Before moving to the U.S. in 1996, Mariela was a producer for the popular talk show “Tu y yo Con…” for Televén network. She is a native of Caracas, Venezuela.
We will also be honoring our 2019 Person of Vision: Dr. Rusty Rodts.
Born in Wichita, Kansas, Gerald (Rusty) E. Rodts Jr, MD attended Princeton University where he majored in biology and played varsity baseball. Dr. Rodts received his medical degree from The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in New York, completed residency at UCLA, and finished a post-graduate spine fellowship at Emory University. In 2005, he joined his orthopaedic spine colleagues in the Emory Spine Center. Currently, Dr. Rodts is Chief of the Division of Spine Surgery in the Emory Department of Neurosurgery, Emory School of Medicine, and the Chief of Neurosurgery Service at Emory University Hospital Midtown. Every year since 2005, Dr. Rodts has received the Castle Connolly Research Award as a Top Neurosurgeon in the United States and has been named one of Atlanta Magazine's Top Neurosurgeons. He was the recipient of the 2019 Hugh McLeod Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arthritis Foundation. Dr. Rodts is a Neuro-trauma Consultant to the National Football League and a consultant to the Department of Justice.