Your values, continuing Fred’s legacy

Fred’s belief was simple: fairness, practical action, and looking after one another. 

People like you carry that same belief forward every time you choose to stand behind this work. 

He did not speak in abstract ideas. He spoke in simple truths about what people deserved and what could be done when care was made accessible. 

Professor Fred Hollows built his work around those ideas, and they continue today through The Fred Hollows Foundation and the people who support it. 

People like you.

You believe no one should be treated as less important 

Photo credit: Stephen Ellison

Fred believed every person mattered equally, regardless of where they lived or what they could afford. 

“Every eye is an eye. When you are doing surgery there, that is just as important as if you were doing eye surgery on the Prime Minister or King.” 

That belief still underpins how eye care is delivered today. It is why treatment is based on need, not circumstance, and why people in remote and underserved communities are not left behind. 

You believe the same thing. That access to care should not depend on where someone is born. 

You believe avoidable blindness should not be accepted 

You believe avoidable blindness should not be accepted when it can be treated. 

Fred never accepted that people should lose their sight from conditions that can be treated. 

“It’s obscene to let people go blind when they don’t have to.” 

That clarity still drives the work today. Preventable blindness is still being treated, and sight is still being restored through straightforward, proven care. 

Your support helps make that possible. It funds surgery, outreach, equipment, and the delivery of care to places where it would otherwise not reach. 

You believe people should be able to build their own future 

Photo credit: Michael Amendolia

You believe lasting change should not depend on outside help forever. 

Fred believed change should be lasting, not dependent on outside support. 

“We discover our own humanity when we help others.” 

That belief still shapes how this work is done today, through training, education, and building local skills so communities can continue delivering eye care into the future. 

This is long term work. It continues because knowledge is shared, not withheld. 

Many people choose to give monthly because it helps sustain this kind of ongoing work. You can learn more about the power of monthly giving here. 

You believe practical action matters

Photo credit: Pat Fiske

You believe practical action matters more than ideas alone. 

Fred was not interested in ideas without action. He believed in getting things done. 

“I’m an optimist, always, that the world can be a better place.” 

That optimism was grounded in effort and delivery, not hope alone. 

Today, that same approach continues through programs that restore sight using simple, effective interventions that change lives immediately and permanently. 

You believe this work should continue 

You believe this work should continue because it changes lives in lasting ways. 

Fred believed change only mattered if it lasted. 

“Just as the quality of humaneness comes from having a concern for people less fortunate, so too does the humanity of a country.” 

That belief still shapes the work today. 

More than 3 million people have had their sight restored across more than 25 countries, including remote and underserved communities in Australia. 

In 2024 alone, supporters like you helped screen more than 8 million people, perform more than 560,000 eye operations and treatments, distribute more than 178,000 pairs of glasses, and train more than 66,000 health workers. Read more about our impact here. 

These are not just numbers. They are the result of a belief system still being acted on every day by people like you. 

Fred’s values, still at work in you 

Photo credit: The Fred Hollows Foundation

Fred believed that looking after one another is what makes us human. 

Thank you for the part you play in carrying that belief forward through your support of this work. 

Today, that belief is still needed more than ever. 9 out of 10 people who are blind or vision impaired don’t need to be, yet millions are still living with avoidable blindness simply because they cannot access the care they need. 

Together with supporters like you, we are working to end avoidable blindness by restoring sight, training local eye health workers, and strengthening access to care in the communities that need it most.